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Toronto's Danforth neighbourhood has it all: restaurants, grocery stores, culture, and soon, a marijuana dispensary – if Sam Mellace has his way.
The medical marijuana user and activist is opening the New Age Medical Clinic near Danforth and Pape Aves. on Wednesday with an eye toward a Health Canada policy change that would allow him to sell the pot he grows directly to medical marijuana consumers.
His move comes at a time when the country is reconsidering how it supplies marijuana. A new policy is in the final stages of development, and Health Canada plans to begin rolling it out this spring with full implementation by March 2014.
Under the policy, Health Canada will pull back from administering medical marijuana and license producers such as Mellace, who would then take care of distribution themselves.
While the policy is still in development, some core elements are known. Mellace's new clinic would probably be able to act as a storefront for his grow operation.
"The upstairs is ready to go – there's two doctors' offices ready to go. Once we do the grand opening, within a few days, after that we'll be fully functioning," said Mellace. "We're setting up the first one here ... there will be more of these clinics going up in and around Toronto."
If approved, Mellace expects he'll be able to distribute 45 kilograms of marijuana from the Danforth location each month, based on his surveys of current licensees. He plans to charge $5 per gram, while Health Canada is predicting prices around $8 per gram.
As of December, 28,000 people were licensed to possess marijuana in Canada. Health Canada expects that number to jump to 50,000 by 2014.
The agency is currently the sole supplier and distributor – something it wants to get away from. Instead, it will rely on doctors to prescribe the herb.
While Mellace – who lit up a joint in the House of Commons in 2010 to protest marijuana regulations – plans to distribute medical pot at the clinic, he said its main function will be to treat people hooked on opiate drugs like morphine and oxycodone.
"Looking at the situation as it stands right now, what we're trying to do is build up the clientele and try to get as many people as we can help off of the opiate addictions," Mellace said.
He renovated the clinic to include two examination rooms, a blood-testing room, other modern medical facilities and plenty of security. Two general practitioners will be on staff, as well as a psychologist, psychiatrist and naturopath.
The clinic will operate as a natural treatment centre and will also help people apply for medical marijuana permits, which are still necessary until Health Canada's new policy takes effect.
The permit is being revised after the last round of public consultations concluded Feb. 28.
Mellace has applied for a permit to conduct marijuana research and is itching to put in his application to be a producer under the new model.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: thestar.com
Author: Tim Alamenciak
Contact: Contact Us | Toronto Star
Website: Danforth clinic plans to be first marijuana storefront dispensary | Toronto Star
The medical marijuana user and activist is opening the New Age Medical Clinic near Danforth and Pape Aves. on Wednesday with an eye toward a Health Canada policy change that would allow him to sell the pot he grows directly to medical marijuana consumers.
His move comes at a time when the country is reconsidering how it supplies marijuana. A new policy is in the final stages of development, and Health Canada plans to begin rolling it out this spring with full implementation by March 2014.
Under the policy, Health Canada will pull back from administering medical marijuana and license producers such as Mellace, who would then take care of distribution themselves.
While the policy is still in development, some core elements are known. Mellace's new clinic would probably be able to act as a storefront for his grow operation.
"The upstairs is ready to go – there's two doctors' offices ready to go. Once we do the grand opening, within a few days, after that we'll be fully functioning," said Mellace. "We're setting up the first one here ... there will be more of these clinics going up in and around Toronto."
If approved, Mellace expects he'll be able to distribute 45 kilograms of marijuana from the Danforth location each month, based on his surveys of current licensees. He plans to charge $5 per gram, while Health Canada is predicting prices around $8 per gram.
As of December, 28,000 people were licensed to possess marijuana in Canada. Health Canada expects that number to jump to 50,000 by 2014.
The agency is currently the sole supplier and distributor – something it wants to get away from. Instead, it will rely on doctors to prescribe the herb.
While Mellace – who lit up a joint in the House of Commons in 2010 to protest marijuana regulations – plans to distribute medical pot at the clinic, he said its main function will be to treat people hooked on opiate drugs like morphine and oxycodone.
"Looking at the situation as it stands right now, what we're trying to do is build up the clientele and try to get as many people as we can help off of the opiate addictions," Mellace said.
He renovated the clinic to include two examination rooms, a blood-testing room, other modern medical facilities and plenty of security. Two general practitioners will be on staff, as well as a psychologist, psychiatrist and naturopath.
The clinic will operate as a natural treatment centre and will also help people apply for medical marijuana permits, which are still necessary until Health Canada's new policy takes effect.
The permit is being revised after the last round of public consultations concluded Feb. 28.
Mellace has applied for a permit to conduct marijuana research and is itching to put in his application to be a producer under the new model.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: thestar.com
Author: Tim Alamenciak
Contact: Contact Us | Toronto Star
Website: Danforth clinic plans to be first marijuana storefront dispensary | Toronto Star
