Medical marijuana history
A Clearview company has become the first in Canada to receive Health Canada’s new licence to grow marijuana commercially for medical use.
The new licence will allow Peace Naturals Project Inc. to supply about 1,000 clients. It will make its first shipment of medical marijuana this month, company founder and CEO Mark Gobuty told Council, Township staff and members of the public at the Council meeting on Monday, November 4.
Peace Naturals received the licence from Health Canada on Thursday, October 31.
Health Canada created the licence as part of new regulations that change the way patients access marijuana for medical purposes, to reduce the risk of abusing the system.
Instead of distributing marijuana for medical purposes, Health Canada will now oversee the licensing of approved suppliers such as Peace Naturals. Clients who have a physician prescription for medical marijuana (also known as medical cannabis) to treat a specific condition will now be able to purchase it directly from licensed companies.
Licensed distributors will have to meet security and quality control requirements, including employing quality assurance professionals who have experience and technical knowledge of dried marijuana, and an indoor, commercial production site with controlled access and monitoring systems.
The new regulations will enable distributors to provide more strains of marijuana to patients. At press time, Peace Naturals was waiting for approvals for 14 strains of marijuana, some of which are not psychoactive.
For the last two years, Gobuty has grown marijuana on his farm to provide relief to his parents from symptoms of disease. Gobuty has been in compliance with Health Canada’s rule permitting growers to supply the drug to two patients only.
Once he saw that marijuana helped his parents reduce the number of prescription medications they took, Gobuty and his wife, who farmed industrial hemp, chia and goji berries, modified their property for large-scale production of marijuana. (Gobuty did not to disclose his farm’s location to The Creemore Echo to protect the safety of his employees and security of his business.)
Since then, Gobuty has been building his vision of “a different kind of company” that produces safe and quality products, and offers client care including a call centre to provide support.
Gobuty credits good timing with quick receipt of the licence. When Health Canada created new regulations for medical marijuana, which came into effect on June 7, 2013, he said Peace Naturals was set to go.
“We have a great team and a great lawyer [marijuana decriminalization advocate Alan Young]. We came up with a plan, executed it and made the investment,” Gobuty told the Echo earlier this week.
Township support
Gobuty spent the past year-and-a-half reaching out to law enforcement and civic leaders in Clearview Township and Wasaga Beach to explain Peace Naturals’goals.
He admits he was “pleasantly surprised” by the open reception he drew. “You don’t go into this with wholehearted optimism,” he said. “We thought people might assume that medical cannabis could refer to reefer madness dogma and preconceived notions out there. But our guts, luck and the spirit of our intent weren’t lost on the people. It wasn’t the shock factor that we expected.”
Mayor Ken Ferguson congratulated Gobuty and his colleagues at the Council meeting. “To have this happen in Clearview is truly amazing.”
“I believe we’re here because of the confidence of the leaders of our community,” said Gobuty, who first met with Mayor Ferguson, Township staff and members of the Economic Development Committee last spring. “Their trust will make this a safer industry as a result of their openness.”
Gobuty is especially proud of the relationship his company has built with the Clearview Fire Department. “The cannabis community is terrified of fire and safety,” Gobuty explained.
Members of multiple Fire Departments in the area visited his facility to discuss fire and safety standards, just as they would with any other company.
“Myself, Ryan Williams in fire prevention, Fire Chiefs from the County, Ontario Fire Marshall representatives and County Fire Prevention Officers have all toured the facility and been very impressed with fire safety,” Acting Fire Chief Colin Shewell told the Echo.
At the November meeting, Kenneth Langford, Chief Innovation Officer and Co-Founder of Peace Naturals, said, “A year ago I wouldn’t discuss what I did with my family and friends – now I am here at Council talking about it to the Fire Chief!”
Colin Shewell responded with a joke about Peace Naturals naming a strain of cannabis after the Clearview Fire Department.
“We hope this industry will become a net benefit for the Township,” said Gobuty, citing job creation and his company’s consumption of utilities, services, trades and paying rent. “We’re going to be active participants in the community.”
To grow with the new regulations, Peace Naturals is creating 20 new jobs. The company plans to employ more than 100 people in Clearview over the next 18 months.
Health Canada’s new Marihuana [sic] for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) treat marijuana like any other narcotic by creating production and distribution standards for a new, commercial industry.
According to Health Canada’s website, the regulations “will provide access to quality-controlled marihuana [sic] for medical purposes, produced under secure and sanitary conditions, to those Canadians who need it, while strengthening the safety of Canadian communities.”
Growing marijuana for medical purposes has been sanctioned by Health Canada since 2001, when it defined the circumstances and manner that individuals could access it.
Research has shown that marijuana can provide relief from pain, relax muscles, decrease nausea and increase appetite.
In 2001, less than 500 Canadians were authorized to purchase medical marijuana. Today, there are more than 370,000.
Health Canada anticipates that more than 450,000 patients will be authorized to use medical marijuana by 2024.
