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Drugstore pot option - Canuck officials eye Dutch model

Source: Canadian Press, 04/28/03

Under pressure from the courts to reform its medical marijuana policy, Health Canada is considering a Dutch option in which marijuana would be made available to needy patients at the corner pharmacy.

Senior Health Canada officials visited the Netherlands in February to learn more about a new law that allows pharmacies to distribute government marijuana to patients with a doctor's prescription.

The law, which became effective March 17, makes the Netherlands the first country to treat marijuana like a prescription drug.

"It's an option, like there are many options," said Beth Pieterson, a Health Canada official who met with her counterparts in Amsterdam from Feb. 18 to 21.

But Pieterson cautioned that no decisions have been made.

Health Canada allows approved patients to smoke pot. But there's no legal supply of the substance.

In January, an Ontario Superior Court justice declared the Marijuana Medicinal Access Regulations unconstitutional.