OTTAWA - Health Canada is looking for someone to grow government-approved weed.
The department has served notice it will soon allow firms to bid on a contract to grow and distribute medical marijuana. A series of court rulings since 2000 forced the federal government into the medical marijuana business.
The program licenses certified users whose doctors have prescribed them cannabis to grow their own pot, have someone grow it for them or buy it straight from Health Canada.
Health Canada has paid Prairie Plant Systems Inc. more than $10 million to cultivate government-certified dope in a mine shaft in Flin Flon, Man.
The department has said it plans to eventually end its licensing of home-grown weed -- forcing all medical users to buy their supplies directly from Ottawa.
