Senate Bill 0660 (2013) Senate Introduced Bill

[Juan Roberto]

Prairie Plant made media headlines when they took legislators on tours of their underground gardens located in old mines in Michigan.  ...  Prairie Plant has shuttled legislators and, in some cases, staff members through the mines in Michigan and even flown them to the Saskatoon cultivation site. 

 

So Canadians have been running giant grow operations here in Michigan for years, and are now giving tours to legislators of their enormous - illegal - weed gardens....  

 

And somehow a licensed grower has to worry about the cops busting down our doors if he grows more than 12 plants or has more than 2.5 ounces? What about the GIANT Canadian pot farms on Michigan soil that all these legislators just saw and frolicked around in!?

 

 

Am I losing my mind, or did I miss something?

 

 

[Ms Chocolate]

My gosh, SB0660 is 85 pages, thankfully I only had to review the first 38 (for now). I gather that this bill has no direct bearing on the Act of 2008. The only thing I seen that effects patients is the enhanced card. If the doctor recommends the card (which I gather is akin to a Rx), the patient would use it instead of the present card. The present card would have to be returned to the state. The bill states that this bill would have not affect of patients and caregivers growing under the ACT. 

 

 

What tickled me about the article I read was the statement from the Rep from East Lansing (I think) who said that she didn't see the sense in creating a law that would only go into effect based on actions by fed reps. Hell, that's exactly was the 1978 law was.  

[semicaregiver]

So Canadians have been running giant grow operations here in Michigan for years, and are now giving tours to legislators of their enormous - illegal - weed gardens....  

 

And somehow a licensed grower has to worry about the cops busting down our doors if he grows more than 12 plants or has more than 2.5 ounces? What about the GIANT Canadian pot farms on Michigan soil that all these legislators just saw and frolicked around in!?

 

 

Am I losing my mind, or did I miss something?

 

What was not posted is the fact that they do more than grow weed...  http://www.prairieplant.com/

I would guess that they do not grow weed in their UP site.

[mibrains]

http://www.freep.com/article/20131105/NEWS06/311050133/medical-marijuana-pharmacies-michigan-senate

 

LANSING — Medical marijuana users could buy tested and regulated pot from pharmacies under a bill passed Tuesday by the Senate Government Operations Committee.

Opponents of the bill, however, say it is nothing more than an attempt to take business away from the small-scale and home growers.

“The voters decided that medical marijuana was a good thing for the state of Michigan, but unfortunately, very few parameters were put around that,” said Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, a supporter of the bill. “For me, it’s about the illegitimate use and the potential for not only a bad product, but it also getting into the hands of people who are underage.”

Former Speaker of the House Chuck Perricone, who now represents Prairie Plant Systems, a licensed Canadian marijuana manufacturer, said the legislation would give medical marijuana users a better option for their cannabis.

“This is nothing more than an option or a choice. This product was marketed to the public as medical; let’s make it medical,” he said. “The market for this is virtually untapped. The potential for the product is tremendous.”

Several dozen activists attending the committee meeting Tuesday said they feared the bill was a money grab by large-scale growers and pharmacies that want to muscle out home growers.

“We need to grow our own medicine,” said Charmie Gholson, founder of Michigan Moms United, which fights for legal protections for medical marijuana users. “I’m not sure why a Canadian corporation can come in and try to buy our Legislature.”

The bill would: amend the public health code and classify marijuana as a Schedule 2 controlled substance; provide for the licensure and regulation of facilities to grow and test pharmaceutical-grade pot, and allow those facilities to sell the drug to pharmacies to dispense.

Medical marijuana users would have to get an additional, enhanced certificate from a doctor to be able to buy the drug from a pharmacy. The bill also would restrict the sale of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis to 2 ounces per month, per customer who is at least 18 years old.

The option is needed for medical marijuana users, said state Sen. Roger Kahn, R-Saginaw Township, to ensure a safe product free of toxins.

“Marijuana, if it’s to be medical marijuana, should be held to the standard of medical safety and dosage predictability,” he said. “The mold issue is serious, the pesticide issue is serious. Both of those have the potential to be lethal.”

Kahn said the bill would not stop homegrown marijuana by either cardholders or caregivers.

“But I don’t think that would be a good choice,” he said. “The best choice would be to get something that is safe and predictable.”

Rick Thompson of Americans for Safe Access said the issue of product quality isn’t real.

“Unregulated cannabis has never killed anyone. There are no illnesses,” he said. “Those issues are smoke screens.”

The legislation, which passed on a 3-0 vote in committee, is contingent upon the federal government reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule 2 controlled substance, which would give it medical legitimacy and would allow pharmacies to dispense it. Marijuana is now a Schedule 1 controlled substance, which the federal government still considers an illegal substance with no medical benefit.

Perricone said the federal government has taken a number of steps to broaden the availability of marijuana, from signaling that it won’t prosecute in states that have approved medical or recreational marijuana use to allowing for broader access to financing for marijuana businesses.

But Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, said she was uncomfortable supporting a bill that has to wait for congressional approval. She passed on voting on the bill, which now moves to the full Senate, where it is likely to be brought up for a vote later this week.

“It’s an unusual step for the Legislature to act in case something that may or may not happen in the federal government,” she said. “The attorney general’s discretion is something very different from congressional approval.”

[mibrains]

as many of us have long suspected..

 

they are trying there hardest to steal our plants.. right out from under our nose.

 

they say this bill will run along side of our act.  Please everyone don't fall for that.. see the writing on the wall.  they will only wait a very short time before they remove our system once theres is up and running.

 

listen to what they are saying instead of what they are trying to tell us.

 

every quote i read from the legislators goes back to the fact that they are trying to profiteer off this plant.

 

call today and tell them HELL NO on this prairie garbage bill.

 

i would rather import trash than there cannabis ideas.

 

GET OUT OF MY STATE WITH YOUR POISONOUS IDEOLOGY.

 

patents can grow their own medicine.

 

self reliance means more to many than the healing of the medicine itself.

[Juan Roberto]

You know, in this State, we've been courting Canada, along with other U.S. States, for many years by giving them a very, very cheap dumping place for their garbage. http://www.trash-o-meter.com/

And now, in an attempt to provide 'regulated and tested marijuana' at your local Walgreens, the State of Michigan is taking advice and prepared to work with—a Canadian company. So, my point is, if the State is looking for marijuana growers, why not look at Michigan growers, which would help the incomes of Michigan residents instead of…I don't know…a company from a different country!

 

[bobandtorey]

You know, in this State, we've been courting Canada, along with other U.S. States, for many years by giving them a very, very cheap dumping place for their garbage. http://www.trash-o-meter.com/

 

And now, in an attempt to provide 'regulated and tested marijuana' at your local Walgreens, the State of Michigan is taking advice and prepared to work with—a Canadian company. So, my point is, if the State is looking for marijuana growers, why not look at Michigan growers, which would help the incomes of Michigan residents instead of…I don't know…a company from a different country!

 

 

I agree why not let the growers on Michigan make the $$ but that would mean they won't make it

and it's a plan for us all to lose our grow rights IMHO

[Celliach]

I watched the hearing live yesterday and was appalled by the testimony from our side. Hardly anyone actually talked about the bill.  Instead they went up and complained about the Carruthers and endorsed HB4271, both of which had nothing to do with the hearing.   Most people used their opportunity to weigh on in SB 660, by talking about other subjects.  I was wincing through most of the testimony yesterday.

[Juan Roberto]

I completely agree, B&T. This, unfortunately,  just reeks of another way to continually promote the notion of 'big business' being an essential and good thing for all aspects of our lives. And a way for the State to make a tidy profit off of product that many in the legislature don't even support—unless there is money to made.

Utterly shameful.
 

Edited November 6, 2013 by Juan Roberto

[bobandtorey]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.senate.michigan.gov/members/alphamemberlist.htm

Start calling

[abe supercro]

A criminal investigation of Prarie plant systems shld exclude them right off the bat. They've been producing mmj here in MI, without limits, long before it was legal. Hire a private Investigator. That company is integral to profiting off Canadians and removing all their growing abilities, their presence far from 'ok'.

[imiubu]

well, I must be feeling particularly emotional this morning as this has set me to weeping.

 

my point would be to not take our grow rights away, simple.

 

A wise man told me recently that when communicating with my legislators ask for 1 thing, just one

thing at a time.

[imiubu]

A criminal investigation of Prarie plant systems shld exclude them right off the bat. They've been producing mmj here in MI, without limits, long before it was legal. Hire a private Investigator. That company is integral to profiting off Canadians and removing all their growing abilities, their presence far from 'ok'.

 

I agree.

 

Also, are they associated w/ Monsanto?  bio engineering genetics sounds awfully familiar.

[+Malamute]

A criminal investigation of Prarie plant systems shld exclude them right off the bat. They've been producing mmj here in MI, without limits, long before it was legal. Hire a private Investigator. That company is integral to profiting off Canadians and removing all their growing abilities, their presence far from 'ok'.

 

 

 May I ask wtf you are talking about?

 

 these are the exact arguments that enter the cuckoo for cocoa puffs zone and have zero proof or insight.

 

Prairie plant does not grow marijuana in Michigan. Period.

[abe supercro]

So you toured the entire mine? No, me neither... but that's what they do... grow cannabis.

 

They don't supply health Canada w cannabis? Canadians grow rights haven't been taken away? Guess their legit bro -

[+washtenaut]

Lots of questions to ask the Michigan Legislature within this article. 

 

http://www.cannabisculture.com/content/2013/09/23/Prairie-Plant-Plant-Systems-Medical-Marijuana-Monopoly-Back

 

Prairie Plant Plant Systems' Medical Marijuana Monopoly is Back

 

By Jeremiah Vandermeer, Cannabis Culture - Monday, September 23 2013

 

CANNABIS CULTURE - Health Canada has awarded the first two licenses to produce medical marijuana under its new Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations to Prairie Plant Systems – the same company that produced heavy metal-contaminated, irradiated, and overall terrible cannabis under the old program.

"As the sole supplier to Health Canada for the last 13 years, patients and physicians have come to trust the safety and efficacy of the Prairie Plant Systems (PPS) pharmaceutical-grade cannabis," PPS CEO Brent Zettl announced in a press release this morning. "We are very pleased to have been awarded the first two licenses under the new medical marijuana regulations."

As well as issuing a license for PPS, Health Canada gave a second license to CanniMed Ltd., a subsidiary of PPS, which, according to the press release, "will be the distribution and support hub for patients and physicians, as well as the brand name of the three pharmaceutical-grade cannabis products that will be made available as soon as physically possible - CanniMed® 17.1, CanniMed® 12.0 and CanniMed® 9.9."

As part of Health Canada's new regulations, all personal medical marijuana home-growing operations will be made illegal as of April 1, 2014. All medical marijuana patients in Canada will then be forced to purchase their medicine by mail-order from one of the government-licensed companies, of which PPS and CanniMed are the first – and only at this time.

"Patient safety is our primary focus," Zettl said, "which means that patients and their healthcare professionals can trust our consistent and reliable product every time. We have a quality control process with 281 points of control, ensuring that there is no variability, giving patient's confidence in dose consistency."

"Efficacy"? "Trust"? "Patient safety"?

If these are truly concepts now associated with Prairie Plant System and its products, the company must have turned over a new leaf.

Founded in 1988, PPS is a privately-held plant biotechnology company that develops "Prairie hardy fruit trees and seed potatoes" and plant-based pharmaceuticals.

In 2001, the company managed to secure a $5.7 million cultivation contract – the first and only of its kind – to produce med pot for distribution to the public as part of the Canadian government's MMAR program. In a joint venture with the Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting Company, PPS established a large growing operation 365 metres below ground in a Flin Flon, Manitoba mine.

Quality Discrepancies

The historically successful company then seemed to get off on the wrong foot when it came to medical marijuana. Despite claims PPS was growing a top-quality product by CEO Zettl, Health Canada repeatedly delayed the distribution of the company's finished product.

Once the program was actually up and running, patients receiving the medicine began to complain about the low quality of the PPS product. Patients called the marijuana "weak" and "disgusting", and described it as ground-up mix of buds, leaves and stalk.

Beginning in 2003, the Canadians for Safe Access (CSA), the country's largest medical marijuana patients rights organization, acquired a sample of PPS's pot and began testing. What they found was downright scary.

The group published an Open Letter of Concern for the Health and Safety of Canada's Medicinal Cannabis Community – a detailed study of PPS's cannabis – that raised a number of serious concerns about the quality and safety of the product.

"Upon initial physical examination, it became apparent that claims by PPS and Health Canada that the PPS cannabis was 10% THC seemed overly optimistic." the letter states. "The product was of very fine grind with visible stalk and stems peppered throughout and very little detectable trichome development. When put under flame, it produced a dark smoke with an unpleasant taste and odor. The cannabis burned very poorly and left a thick black residual ash, immediately suggesting inadequate nutrient flushing. This was later confirmed by an examination of tests conducted by Norwest labs for PPS, which show unusually high levels of phosphorous, calcium, and magnesium all of which are 'flowering' fertilizers used at the end of growth cycle, and are typically to blame for the poor combustion and acrid taste of inferior quality black-market cannabis."

Numbers acquired by CSA through an Access to Information Act request showed "that out of the initial 93 people who ordered the cannabis between September 2003 and the end of March 2004, nearly 30% physically returned it to Health Canada."

So much for "efficacy".

CSA tests also showed that PPS's pot had from 3% - 5% THC only, instead of the 10% claimed by the company.

So much for "trust".

Heavy Metal Marijuana

Adding to PPS's growing problems were concerns about the safety of their growing facilities deep underground in a zinc and copper mine in Flin Flon. "As a result of over 80 years of mining and smelting," the CSA wrote, "a number of official Conservation Canada, Natural Resources Canada and Environment Canada reports suggest that Flin Flon and the surrounding region is one of the most environmentally contaminated areas in North America."

According to a MiningWatch Canada report released in 2001 , "the sheer size of the contaminated area in Flin Flon makes it impossible to remediate. In particular, there is a large volume of tailings that blow in the wind, and the metal content (copper, cadmium and lead) makes it difficult for vegetation to establish. Community concerns have historically not been adequately addressed, and much information, including that collected by Health Canada (e. g., toxic metal levels in blueberries) has not been made available to the residents of Flin Flon..."

CSA commissioned a heavy metal analysis of PPS's marijuana that was carried out by an EPA and CAEAL certified lab in September of 2003. "The results of these tests showed that the PPS cannabis was high in both lead and arsenic," CSA said.

Thanks to an Access to Information Act Request, the patient's rights group also received a copy of "every heavy metal test conducted by PPS and Health Canada up to and including March 9th, 2004." The tests showed lower concentrations of arsenic and lead than earlier tests but "examination by independent researchers suggested that elevated levels of manganese and phosphorous in the PPS cannabis may be of some health concern, particularly when they are inhaled into the lungs," CSA said.

CSA also criticized Health Canada's reaction to the test results, which they called "totally unsatisfactory."

After being informed by CSA about tests showing the presence of potentially life-threatening heavy metals in its medical marijuana, Health Canada spokesperson Jirina Vlk said the government's own tests showed heavy metal concentrations in PPS cannabis were "similar to those found in Canadian tobacco, and well within allowable limits," CSA said. "When pressed as to what these 'allowable limits' might be, she admitted that there are currently no legal limits to heavy metal content in either cannabis or tobacco in Canada."

Biological Impurities and Gamma Radiation

The same tests that showed high levels of heavy metals in PPS pot showed high levels of biological impurities prior to gamma irradiation. Tests showed abnormally high levels of aerobic bacteria – more than 1000 times that of organic cannabis tested the same way. Tests also showed "dangerously high levels of molds, including penicillium and aspergillus," CSA said, of which "HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis-C, and cancer sufferers may be particularly vulnerable to."

In order to kill hazardous bacteria, the PPS marijuana is bombarded with Gamma radiation. According to Health Canada's website, "The product has been irradiated by gamma irradiation to reduce to undetectable levels, potentially harmful bacteria and microbial load which may cause spoilage of product. The lowest dose required is utilized for the irradiation process (i.e. 10 kilogray - standard level for herbs and spices), ensuring that the chemical characteristics of the marihuana product are not altered."

"Gamma irradiation is a controversial decontamination technique that has never been studied for safety in smoked or inhaled products anywhere in the world," CSA wrote in its letter. "Although it effectively destroys most bacteria, it does not destroy viruses or mycotoxins, and is often used to cover up biological contamination resulting from poor production, processing or handling practices. One of the bi-products of gamma irradiation is the production of Unique Radiolytic Products, which are a new class of chemicals resulting from irradiations that are not otherwise found in nature. Of significance in the gamma irradiation of whole plant cannabis is the potential production of cyclobutanones, which are toxic, carcinogenic chemicals that form when fats are subjected to gamma irradiation, and which have been directly linked to the development of colon cancer in rats. In addition, gamma irradiation has been shown to destroy terpenes like myrcene and linalool, which have known therapeutic properties and are found in high concentrations in some strains of whole-plant cannabis."

So much for "patient safety".

The Future of Medical Marijuana in Canada

At this point, Prairie Plant Systems and its subsidiary CanniMed are the only companies licensed to provide commercial medical marijuana to Canadian patients (find out here how to get yours).

Medical marijuana dispensaries, though plentiful across Canada in cities like Vancouver and Toronto, are still actually illegal.

It's possible PPS have changed their ways and will produce quality strains of marijuana in the future, though comments about a "consistent and reliable product every time" have been heard before and never followed through on.

We called Prairie Plant Systems for a comment today and were promised a call back, but that was also not followed through on.

Hopefully, the government is just getting the license-issuing equipment warmed up, and we'll see the opening of the MMPR program to other commercial providers. An open and free market could lead to a better and safer product where potentially dangerous products are no longer passed-off as medicine.

Until then, Canada has a Prairie Plant Systems Medical Marijuana Monopoly.

 

[abe supercro]

The residual toxins in that mine would contaminate their cannabis and possibly kill all patients with compromised immune systems. Call me cookoo, really I am.

 

Just Sayin... If your politicians can't get the nitty gritty and consent to bordeline smear campaign... then the-deck is, and has been, stacked and these ppl have millions and we're screwd.

 

You can't say it's a fact that they haven't been growing cannabis in that mine. Mal, have you personally accepted any funds from Prarie? lol

 

Whose Praries Lobbyist and how much have they been paid? Any connections to Dow Chemical? Whose our lobbyist? Our budget? Yep

[bobandtorey]

"It doesn't help to just hurl insults. It's helpful for people to provide constructive feedback

[bobandtorey]

So you toured the entire mine? No, me neither... but that's what they do... grow cannabis.

 

They don't supply health Canada w cannabis? Canadians grow rights haven't been taken away? Guess their legit bro -

i am sorry but  in Canada you can not grow Cannabis any longer or soon to be

[imiubu]

i am sorry but  in Canada you can not grow Cannabis any longer or soon to be

Bob, that is the point I believe.

[abe supercro]

I apologize if I insulted anyone. we all have thick skin right... just tring to brainstorm here, but that may not be in the budget either. sorry for my pessimism, but honestly this looks like the real beginning of the end to me.

Edited November 6, 2013 by abe supercro

[GregS]

We can maybe get involved in environmental activism. Bringing the DEQ and DNR into the mix might be necessary. We'll see.

Edited November 6, 2013 by GregS

[Hayduke]

 

Whose Praries Lobbyist and how much have they been paid? Any connections to Dow Chemical? Whose our lobbyist? Our budget? Yep

 

Their lobbyist is former Republican lawmaker, Chuck Perricone.  How much he is paid I have no idea or interest in.  I lobby on behalf of CPU, and our budget info is not public per se….

[GregS]

Their lobbyist is former Republican lawmaker, Chuck Perricone.  How much he is paid I have no idea or interest in.  I lobby on behalf of CPU, and our budget info is not public per se….

Ya think you might get some mileage making noise about bringing in the FDA and DEA?

 

Under this bill they will take our current patient cards and rights if patients choose to use this hoax.

Edited November 6, 2013 by GregS

[Hayduke]

I do not wish to deal with the Feds for obvious reasons.

 

Under this bill it is your option to go with the Prairie Plant SB 660 or the MMMA, you are not forced to switch (if you like your current coverage…. hmmm heard that somewhere before…lol…)