| Photo: Canadian Made Cannabis Health Journal |
| This is a bag of Canadian government medical “marihuana.” |
When you get marijuana from the government, is satisfaction guaranteed? A Canadian medical cannabis patient is bummed out by Health Canada’s failure to refund $450 after he cancelled his government marijuana delivery service three months ago.
Lloyd Summerfield, 55, of Scarborough, Ontario, was one of many licensed users across Canada whose cannabis arrived regularly by courier from a grower under contract to the federal government, reports Tom Godfrey at the Toronto Sun. After Summerfield was run over by a taxi in 2006, his doctor prescribed marijuana to help with leg and body pains.
Summerfield said he borrowed $450 from a friend and used it to buy 90 grams of government-licensed cannabis, which was delivered to his apartment by a courier last November.
But he was told by his doctor that the government pot wasn’t strong enough to help him, so we returned the unopened package of marijuana to Health Canada.
| Photo: Canadian Made Cannabis Health Journal |
| The Canadian government’s licensed medical marijuana farm at Prairie Plant Systems in Manitoba. |
”I am disabled and in a lot of pain,” Summerfield said. “I find the government to be worse than drug dealers on the street when it comes to giving money back.”
Summerfield said he is unable to work and needs the money to survive.
“I am hungry and this is a lot of money for me,” he said. “I had to borrow the money to pay for this.”
Summerfield has contacted Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis, representative for Scarborough-Agincourt, whose office has been sending yet-unheeded letters to Health Canada officials.
“We have been back and forth with the minister’s office to have his money returned,” Karygiannis said. “He has been waiting for months for his money.”
Summerfield’s order was shipped to him from the cannabis growing operation located in Manitoba on November 10, according to Health Canada spokesman Carlo Olivieroa.
“The delivery company attempted on four separate occasions to schedule a delivery appointment without success,” Olivieroa claimed. “The customer did not come to the location to pick up his package, despite being aware that the package was there.”
Olivieroa said the package of cannabis was returned to Prairie Plant Systems, the federal government’s contracted grower.
“The amount the was charged to Mr. Summerfield’s card will be credited to his account,” Olivieroa said.
He said Summerfield must first request a refund in writing, by mail, to an Ottawa address.
Prairie Plant has a five-year, $5.5-million contract with Ottawa to grow medicinal marijuana in an underground grow chamber in Flin Flon, Manitoba.
More than 5,000 Canadians are licensed to use and possess marijuana for medical purposes, according to Health Canada statistics.