A recent national news story has members of Grey Bruce Public Health concerned about Health Canada’s licensing criteria for legal drug manufacturing.
Helen-Claire Tingling voiced her concerns during last week’s Board of Health meeting about a story from British Columbia where a marijuana company was apparently now permitted to manufacture cocaine.
Tingling was updating the board regarding the news story based on available information at the time, saying “And yes, it’s B.C., but I think it behooves us in Ontario to keep our eye on this kind of thing. The issue has been up to now the border — that drugs come in from China and Mexico. If indeed we are now looking at growing our own cocaine in Canada, that seems to me that we’re removing a barrier for bad guys.”
Based on media reports, Adastra Labs of Langley, B.C. announced that their licence was expanded, allowing them to manufacture cocaine and psilocybin.
As the story picked up traction, it was explained by officials that the company was permitted to produce up to 250 grams of cocaine and 1,000 grams of psilocybin, also known as magic mushrooms.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau explained at a media availability that Adastra did not have the ability to sell those expanded products on the open market, but rather that the licence was for “scientific and medical purposes only.”
Further reports also say that for cocaine, the company is only permitted to sell to other licensed dealers who have cocaine listed on their licence, which includes hospitals, pharmacists, practitioners, or other holders who were exempt for research purposes.