Replies to post #64541 on Blue Diamond Ventures Inc (BLDV)

[Kool Aid Man]

How does this help BLDV/AMS who claims they only have one step left to be licensed? Is Canada suddenly going to approve a company that can't seem to build out the interior of a metal shed that still has a DIRT FLOOR? I don't see BLDV/AMS producing and selling MMJ any time soon. What's the status on the building?

[GREGG THE GREEK]

Thx stervc

This could bode well for BLDV and the operations being constructed to exist in Canada that could be one of a few catalysts to graduate BLDV to the next level. I think the BLDV and AMS union could be very close and now with Canada improving on their approval process for Licensing of Production of Cannabis for Medical Purposes, this could be significant:

https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/news/2017/05/statement_from_healthcanadaonimprovingthelicensingofproductionof.html

https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=131930963

v/r
Sterling

Appreciate the insight. Helps misguided folks w finding some guidance.

BLDV

[Hunchbackgeek]

Canada nationally legalized MMJ in 2001. They know... what they're doing, BLVD is in experienced hands;-)

[JPS02]

Good to hear and great post as always stervc. I think the following key catalysts will help AMS succeed in completing the inspections and obtaining the required approvals from Health Canada once they obtain the financing approvals:

# 1 Changing legislative and political environment to be more open to MJ in Canada

# 2 Increasing demand for MMJ in Canada

# 3 Government's objective to ensure there is enough MMJ supply for Canadian patients' demand

# 4 Big Canadian Pharma wanting to distribute MMJ

I think all of these catalyst are lining up the stars for BLDV and AMS and putting them both in the right spot at the right time (i.e. the perfect storm). I will post more on these catalysts in response to your great post.

BLDV's strategy is smart to help AMS get the financing to get to the finish line and bring AMS into BLDV as a wholly owned subsidiary. A win-win situation for both.

Go BLDV!

[JPS02]

Catalysts #s 2,4: Shoppers Drug Mart formally applies to distribute medical marijuana

Pharmacy chain is asking for producer licence, but it plans on just distributing

By Pete Evans, CBC News Posted: Oct 25, 2016 9:09 AM ET| Last Updated: Oct 25, 2016 2:06 PM ET

Canada's largest pharmacy chain has formally applied to be a distributor of medical marijuana.

"We have applied to be a licensed producer strictly for the purposes of distributing medical marijuana," Shoppers Drug Mart spokeswoman Tammy Smitham told CBC News in an email Tuesday.

"We have no intention of producing medical marijuana, but we do want the ability to dispense medical marijuana to our patients in conjunction with counselling from a pharmacist."


The move is the next step in a logical progression for the chain, which earlier this year was looking into the possibility of entering the burgeoning business.

At a Shoppers drug mart location in downtown Toronto, shopper Shannon Lang was surprised by the decision. "It seems very off brand," she said. "It's got a pharmacy so kind of I guess it's OK [but] it just seems a little weird."

According to the latest government data, more than 75,000 Canadians had valid prescriptions for medical marijuana at the end of June — a figure that has tripled in the past year — and they had purchased a total of more than 4,000 kilograms of dried marijuana in the previous three months. That works out to a little less than a gram of pot per day, per person.

Ottawa is in the midst of updating the laws surrounding the drug, including possibly legalizing it in a limited fashion for recreational use.

The previous government prohibited people with a valid prescription from producing medical marijuana themselves, requiring them instead to order it from a licensed producer, who would deliver it via the mail.

In February, a judge struck down that law and gave Ottawa six months to update the rules.

Then in August, the government did just that, but still didn't make it legal to sell any form of marijuana via a retail location. "Storefronts selling marijuana, commonly known as 'dispensaries' and 'compassion clubs,' are not authorized to sell cannabis for medical or any other purposes,' Health Canada said at the time.

Officially, people who need medical marijuana have to either produce it themselves or obtain it from one of a few dozen licensed producers — a list that Shoppers isn't on but wants to join.

Pharmacist group touts industry as 'safest option'

With more than 1,200 locations across Canada including Pharmaprix in Quebec, Shoppers is the largest pharmacy chain in the country, and the industry's lobby group has been pushing the government to make pharmacies the dominant distributor for the drug, since they have experience dealing with other controlled substances.

"As we have indicated in the past we believe that allowing medical marijuana to be dispensed through pharmacy would increase access, safety, quality and security for the thousands of Canadians who use the drug as part of their medication therapy," Shoppers said Tuesday.

"We are hoping that the Government of Canada will revise the current regulations to allow for the dispensing of medical marijuana at pharmacy," Smitham added.

Legal pot could draw investment bonanza from U.S. to Canada

Shoppers is owned by Loblaw Companies Ltd. and at the company's annual general meeting in May, chairman Galen G. Weston said he supported the industry's push toward dispensing marijuana via bricks and mortar pharmacies.

"We're an industry that is extremely effective at managing controlled substances," Weston said at the time.

"It gives pharmacists the opportunity to work directly in real time with patients as opposed to doing it through the mail, working on their doses and making sure it actually has the therapeutic effect that it is intended to have."

In May, Loblaw's head Galen Weston said patients would be able to receive more consultation if the dispensing was done face-to-face via a pharmacist. ( Aaron Vincent Elkaim/Canadian Press)

While Ottawa has made noises about legalizing recreational marijuana use some day soon, what Shoppers is trying to do is get a leg up until that happens by dominating the medical marijuana business, Amir Attaran of the University of Ottawa's school of law and school of medicine told CBC News in an interview.

"Obviously Shoppers wants any dollar it can lay its hands on so they're making a go for it," he said, adding that he expects the provincial liquor boards would likely be Ottawa's first choice to sell marijuana of all forms at the retail level.

"Someone is going to get the profit margin on selling medical and recreational marijuana," Attaran said. "And I don't think for a moment the provinces would give that up without a fight."

Pharmacy group looking into logistics of legal pot

Another major pharmacy chain, Rexall, says there is far too much uncertainty in the market right now — most notably the total lack of clarity of what the legal situation will ultimately be.

"We are keeping an eye on it, but overall our position hasn't changed," spokesman Derek Tupling said in an interview.

"There's still a few big hurdles that need to be jumped over," Tupling said. "There's still a lot of issues that need to be resolved."

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/shoppers-drug-mart-medical-marijuana-1.3820131

Catalysts reference: https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=132071979

Go BLDV!

[JPS02]

Catalyst #s 2-4: Coming soon to a pharmacy near you: CanniMed signs deal with PharmaChoice to distribute medical marijuana — when it’s legal

Sunny Freeman | March 2, 2017

Medical marijuana producer CanniMed Therapeutics Inc. is getting a head start on distributing cannabis through pharmacies, becoming the first licensed producer to sign an agreement with a national pharmacy chain, even though the model is still illegal.

CanniMed announced Thursday it has signed a letter of intent with PharmaChoice, a member-owned cooperative, that gives CanniMed exclusive distribution privileges at PharmaChoice stores in exchange for CanniMed’s provision of training. Educational training will start soon, but the distribution agreement is on hold indefinitely. It will be completed within 60 days of the first legislation change that allows for pharmacy distribution of marijuana.

Currently, mail order is the only legal distribution method for medical marijuana but a federal task force report on the legalization of marijuana recommended the government also consider allowing sales at storefront locations. Legislation on marijuana reform, including a legal recreational market, is expected this year. Provincial laws would also need to be changed to allow for pharmacy distribution.

“Our sense of this is that distribution within pharmacies is imminent,” said Brent Zettl, President and CEO of CanniMed.

“We think it’s not an ‘if’ it’s a ‘when’ question and to get ahead of that we need to start helping to educate the pharmacists.”

Zettl is confident that governments will have to open medical marijuana distribution channels due to the sheer number of medical marijuana patients in Canada, totalling more than 100,000, will require more options. Canaccord Genuity analysts have projected the medical marijuana market will grow to some 500,000 patients and be worth $1.8 billion by 2021.

Zettl said it’s important to have the deal in place ahead of any legislative changes so they’re not playing catch up both in production and education once pharmacy sales are legal.

Many doctors are reluctant to grant medical authorizations to patients seeking medical marijuana because they are unfamiliar with dosing, side effects and treatment types.

Meanwhile, illegal dispensaries have cropped up to fill a face-to-face experience void — arguing they are necessary because patients who receive authorization from a doctor to use marijuana are otherwise left on their own to figure out their treatment plan and dosing.

“We have to get health-care professionals woven into the process,” he said.

“There’s this pent-up need, patients are left without the professional guidance. We need more people educating the patients on what to do, how to use it, or what to watch for.”

Zettl hopes the agreement with PharmaChoice, which has about 700 independently-owned stores under its umbrella, is just the beginning of its partnerships with pharmacies; the company is in discussions with a “vast majority” of Canadian pharmacies, he said.

Canada’s largest pharmacy chain, Shoppers Drug Mart, applied to Health Canada to become a medical marijuana distributor last fall, but if approved would require a supplier for its more than 1,200 locations. Its parent company Loblaw Companies Ltd. has been lobbying the government on policies related to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and how they impact pharmacists.

CanniMed, which went public at the end of 2016 was one of the first medical marijuana companies to be granted a Health Canada licence to produce in 2013. Prior to that, under its previous name Prairie Plant Systems, it had been the government’s official marijuana provider on the earlier program enacted in 2000.

Vahan Ajamian, a marijuana sector analyst at Beacon Securities Ltd., said CanniMed’s pre-emptive strike on the market not only makes sense, but is a strategy many licensed producers and applicants are pursuing.

“The current licensed producers definitely are going to have an advantage, they already have a licence a product out there and a name brand to a certain extent. Most of them are increasing capacity over the next year or two, getting ready for recreational.”

However, he added, once the recreational market opens up, pharmacies will be just a small piece of the overall revenue pie, given that recreational sales are expected to be about triple those in medical at about $6 billion by 2021.

[e-mail]

Source: http://business.financialpost.com/news/agriculture/coming-soon-to-a-pharmacy-near-you-cannimed-signs-deals-with-pharmachoice-to-sell-medical-marijuana-when-its-legal

[JPS02]

Statement from Health Canada on Improving the Licensing of Production of Cannabis for Medical Purposes

Statements From Health Canada

May 26, 2017 - Ottawa, ON - Health Canada

OTTAWA – Health Canada is introducing several improvements to its medical cannabis program that aim to streamline the application process for issuing production licenses and enable increased production under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR).

Health Canada has drawn on nearly four years of experience to identify measures that can be put in place to streamline licensing and enable increased production of cannabis. These measures will also help ensure that Health Canada’s approach to licensing and oversight continues to be aligned with the regulations, the existing evidence of risks to public health and safety, and its approach to other regulated sectors.

Effective immediately, Health Canada is implementing the following measures:

• Increasing the Department’s capacity to review and process applications.

• Undertaking some stages of the review of the application concurrently.

• Permitting licensed producers to manage production on the basis of their vault capacity.

• Authorizing longer validity periods for licences and security clearances in accordance with the regulations.

• Streamlining the review and approval of applications to modify or expand an existing production facility for licensed producers with a record of good compliance with the ACMPR.

Health Canada will continue to inspect all facilities before cultivation begins and before a licence to sell products to the public is issued. Henceforth, Health Canada will schedule this first inspection after it has determined an application meets the regulatory requirements and it has issued the licence to cultivate and once the producer is ready to initiate production in its facility. This approach will help provide successful applicants with a decision on their application as soon as possible while ensuring that all facilities are inspected as cultivation begins.


Licensed producers and applicants must continue to meet all of the requirements under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR). The ACMPR represents among the most robust frameworks in the world for ensuring effective control and regulation of cannabis for medical purposes. The ACMPR includes security and inventory control measures that help prevent diversion, as well as requirements for Good Production Practices that help provide individuals with access to quality-controlled cannabis for medical purposes. Since licensed production began in June 2013, licensed producers have established a solid record of compliance with the regulatory requirements and Health Canada will continue to ensure compliance through regular inspection.

In addition to the measures announced today, Health Canada has already dedicated additional resources to accelerate the processing of applications from individuals who are authorized to produce a limited amount of cannabis for their own medical purposes.

Health Canada will continue to work closely with patients, patient advocates and licensed producers to identify and act on opportunities to improve access to cannabis and service to Canadians.

Associated Links

Backgrounder - Improving the Licensing of Production of Cannabis for Medical Purposes

Contacts

Media Relations

Health Canada

613-957-2983

Public Inquiries

[phone]

1-866 225-0709

Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/news/2017/05/statement_from_healthcanadaonimprovingthelicensingofproductionof.html