(Photo: John Kealey/Businessweek)
Tweed Inc., a company out of Ottawa, announced Tuesday that it has been authorized to grow medical marijuana under Canada’s new program.
Tweed is now the fifth producer to be licensed under the MMPR and have their name listed on Health Canada’s website. Others include Mettrum, CanniMed, The Peace Naturals Project, and Bedrocan Canada.
“We are ecstatic to have a production license in-hand,” said Tweed President and CEO Chuck Rifici on Tuesday. “Tweed is now one monumental step closer to providing Canadians in need with premium, affordable marijuana.”
Rifici told the Ottawa Citizen that the company plans to offer 25 different strains of cannabis when the new program takes over on April 1.
By then, patients will be forced to abandon their previous grow set-ups and buy their medicine from commercial suppliers instead.
Tweed says customers will be able to make purchases online or over the phone. Prices will range from $5 to $12 per gram, with a 20% discount offered to low-income patients.
The company plans to begin registering patients by early February. Tweed already has 10,000 plants growing in its 470,000 square-foot facility, a former Hershey’s Chocolate factory in Smith Falls, Ontario.
The company currently has 20 employees and has plans to expand quickly, including a possible public offering.
Since June, Health Canada says it has received over 400 applications from businesses interested in the MMPR. However, with only 5 companies approved, some fear a shortage of supply come April.
Last year, doctors prescribed a total of 190,000 kilograms of cannabis to Canada’s 38,000 marijuana patients. Under the new program, the number of patients is expected to reach up to 400,000 by 2024.
Despite the concern, Health Minister Rona Ambrose told CBC News she believes “there will be sufficient supply, but again it will done in a way that is regulated and inspected by Health Canada officials.”
Source Leaf Science
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