Photo Credit: CP/Darren Stone

B.C. Grower's Medical Marijuana Certified Canada's First Totally Organic Pot CANADIAN PRESS by Dirk Meissner Canadian Press April 27th, 2003 DUNCAN, B.C. (CP) Eric Nash and his wife, Wendy Little, grow the healthiest legal pot in Canada. Left: Wendy holding one of the certified organic marijuana buds. The strain shown here is 'Northern Light' - an indica hybrid.

Nash and Little are the first federally licensed medical marijuana growers in Canada to have their crop officially certified 100 per cent organic.

It's a healthy bonus for the thousands of Canadians who could use it to ease suffering from a wide range of conditions, including multiple sclerosis, cancer, arthritis and AIDS, Nash says in an interview at his home in this Vancouver Island community about 70 kilometres north of Victoria.

The Certified Organic Association of British Columbia, an organization likely more accustomed to monitoring the production of carrots or spinach, granted Nash and Little certified organic status this month.

In British Columbia, where the RCMP says that black market marijuana worth billions is the province's largest cash crop, Nash displays his organic certification like a badge of honour.

Nash, 44, and Little, 41, do not fit the stereotype of typical marijuana growers or pot smokers.

Both graduated from university with honours, Little in education and Nash in visual arts. They have an eight-year-old daughter and live in an attractive, art-filled home in an older Duncan neighbourhood.

Nash, a Web site designer and former professional horticulturist, says organic certification is a step forward in the slow march toward getting Ottawa to acknowledge that marijuana has wide-ranging medicinal qualities.

"It's raising the credibility of medicinal marijuana as a legitimate medicine, as a safe medicine, as an alternative medicine to all the pharmaceuticals and other things that people tried that don't work," Nash says.

People who are sick or in pain deserve access to medicine - what Nash calls his marijuana - grown without the use of toxic pesticides and fertilizers, he says.

"I want to ensure these people are getting certified organic marijuana for their health problem," Nash says. "I want people to know it's been inspected every step of the way, from the soils to the fertilizers."

He gladly admits telling an agricultural feed store employee recently that he was growing organic marijuana for medicinal purposes, legally.

"Her jaw just about dropped on the floor," Nash says.

Nash and Little are two of the 36 Canadians licensed by Health Canada to produce medical marijuana for ill people.

The federal Marijuana Medical Access Regulations, enacted in July 2001, allow people to apply to legally grow their own marijuana or designate a grower for their supply.

Ottawa granted Prairie Plant Systems Inc., a five-year, $5.7-million contract in 2000 to grow marijuana in an old copper mine in Flin Flon, Man.

But Health Canada has said it will not make any of its Flin Flon marijuana available to patients because it wants to see scientific proof about whether the drug is effective.

Nash says the medicinal marijuana approval process is complicated and requires completion of lengthy forms by patients and their doctors.

"An incredible amount of people don't feel comfortable asking their doctor for cannabis for medicine," he says. "Many feel the doctor will think, 'I'm just asking for pot.'"

Nash provides his organic medical marijuana to a Vancouver Island woman with MS and his wife supplies marijuana to an Edmonton man, also with MS.

Licensed growers are permitted by law to distribute marijuana to one person and it must be on a non-profit basis, says Nash.

The couple applied to Health Minister Anne McLellan last January to supply their marijuana to more than one patient each, but haven't yet heard from Ottawa.

Nash and Little say they became involved in the medical marijuana issue for compassionate reasons.

Little's father was suffering from arthritis and Parkinson's disease and wanted to know about the possibility of using medical marijuana to ease his pain, she says.

Her father never ended up trying marijuana because he was concerned about breaking the law, but the medical marijuana issue continued to grow for the couple.

Nash designed a Web site for people to discuss medical marijuana issues, which now has turned into one of the leading marijuana sites on the Internet, with 500,000 hits monthly.

It has been noted as a national reference by the Canadian AIDS Society and the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada.

"We get so many e-mails from patients in pain," says Nash. "There's a huge
need for someone to supply these people."

One e-mail from a woman with MS says marijuana helps relieve her constant pain, stops muscle spasms, stimulates her appetite and allows her to sleep comfortably. But she can't get approval for a supply of medical marijuana.

"While Anne McLellan twiddles her thumbs and feels uncomfortable with the whole issue, I am forced to get my medicine from the street," she says. "I guess that keeps the police well paid and the bureaucrats happy."

Nash says he is ready to provide healthy marijuana to more than just one patient.

"Tens of thousands would gladly take part if they didn't have to jump all the hoops."

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Duncan Couple Canada's First Certified Organic Pot Growers

Tuesday, April 29, 2003, 19:12:34 PDT
By Andrew Costa - Citizen Staff
The Citizen

A Duncan couple who've been growing medicinal marijuana for a year and a half became the first certified organic pot growers in Canada earlier this month.

Wendy Little and Eric Nash say people with compromised immune systems need toxic-free medicinal marijuana.

Eric Nash, 44, and his wife Wendy Little, 41, both federally licensed medicinal marijuana growers, were given certification for the production of organic cannabis by the Pacific Agricultural Certification Society and the Certified Organic Association of B.C.

They sought organic certification because they believe patients with compromised immune systems should have access to "medicine" that is grown without the use of toxic pesticides and fertilizers.

"As designated growers, we receive many emails from patients across Canada concerned about the quality of the marijuana they're purchasing on the street," Little said. "We want to give patients assurance of a toxic-free certified organic product."

Little has one Multiple Sclerosis (MS) client with a prescription for five grams of marijuana per day, while Nash's client, who also suffers from MS, has a prescription for one gram a day. Together, that means they're allowed to have 30 plants growing at a time.

Their small, legal grow-op is strictly a non-profit operation, with Health Canada only allowing them to charge for their expenses, including the cost of Hydro and growing equipment.

Little said she and Nash didn't plan on becoming medicinal marijuana growers when they first launched their associated websites which get more than 500,000 hits per month.

"My dad asked me to find out about medical marijuana for his arthritis and Parkinson's," Little said. "I started researching it and realized the information wasn't out there and I wanted to fit it together so other families that were doing the research I was would be able to find it more easily."

The site provides information on how to go through the process of applying to be a medical marijuana user or grower as well as news stories, historical facts and discussion forums.

Little said after they launched the site it generated so much interest that she and Nash progressed to becoming designated growers as "a natural chain of events." Nash, who worked as a horticulturalist with the City of Victoria for 10 years, bought some books and taught himself the growing process.

"Many sick people have to rely on drug dealers to supply their medicine," he said. "They're being forced into the position of having to buy marijuana from unknown sources, possibly laden with pesticides, herbicides and contaminants. This is wrong."

The federal Marijuana Medical Access Regulations, enacted in July 2001, allow people to apply to legally grow their own marijuana or designate a grower for their supply. Nash and Little are two of only 36 Canadians licensed by Health Canada to produce medical marijuana for ill people.

"Most people don't realize they can go to the doctor and get a prescription for marijuana," Little said.

Next fall Nash and Little will be offering a four-hour course on growing marijuana and the Marijuana Medical Access Regulations at the Cowichan campus of Malaspina University-College.

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Medical Marijuana Certified as Canada's First Totally Organic Pot

ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP WIRE
5:03 a.m., April 28, 2003

DUNCAN, British Columbia - Marijuana growers Eric Nash and his wife, Wendy Little, are Canada's first licensed medical marijuana growers to have their crop officially certified 100 percent organic.

In an interview at the couple's home in this Vancouver Island town about 45 miles north of Victoria, Nash says the action by the Certified Organic Associations of British Columbia is a bonus for Canadians who seek pot to ease suffering from multiple sclerosis, cancer, arthritis, AIDS and other conditions.

"It's raising the credibility of medicinal marijuana as a legitimate medicine, as a safe medicine, as an alternative medicine to all the pharmaceuticals and other things that people tried that don't work," Nash said.

In British Columbia, where the Royal Canadian Mounted Police says illegal black market marijuana is worth billions, making it the province's largest cash crop, Nash, 44, and Little, 41, do not fit the stereotype of marijuana growers or pot smokers.

Both graduated from university with honors, Little in education and Nash in visual arts. They have an 8-year-old daughter and live in an attractive, art-filled home in an older neighborhood.

Nash, a Web site designer and former professional horticulturist, says organic certification is a step forward in the struggle for recognition of the medicinal qualities of marijuana.

People who are sick or in pain deserve access to pot grown without toxic pesticides or fertilizers, he says.

"I want to ensure these people are getting certified organic marijuana for their health problem," Nash said. "I want people to know it's been inspected every step of the way, from the soils to the fertilizers."

Nash and Little are two of the 36 people licensed by Health Canada to produce medical marijuana under the country's Marijuana Medical Access Regulations, enacted in July 2001.

Those rules allow people to apply for permission to grow their own marijuana or designate a grower for their supply. A licensed grower is permitted by law to distribute marijuana to one person and only on a nonprofit basis, Nash says.

He provides organic medical marijuana to a Vancouver Island woman and his wife does the same for an Edmonton man, both with multiple sclerosis.

The couple are awaiting word on their application, submitted in January to Health Minister Anne McLellan, to supply more than one patient each.

"We get so many e-mails from patients in pain," says Nash. "There's a huge need for someone to supply these people."

Nash and Little say they got involved when her father asked about getting marijuana to ease symptoms of arthritis and Parkinson's disease.

Her father never did try marijuana for fear of breaking the law, but the couple's interest continued.

Nash designed a Web site for discussion of medical marijuana issues and it has grown to 500,000 hits a month and been cited as a national reference by the Canadian AIDS Society and the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Island Harvest press release dated Tuesday April 22, 2003)
Reference Link: http://www.islandharvest.ca

Island Harvest produces Canada's first legal source of certified organic marijuana for Health Canada licenced patients.

On April 15th, 2003, BC residents Wendy Little and Eric Nash were given certification for the production of certified organic cannabis by the Pacific Agricultural Certification Society (PACS) and the Certified Organic Association of British Columbia (COABC).

Little and Nash are Health Canada designated growers of medical marijuana
who believe patients with compromised immune systems should have access to medicine that is grown without the use of toxic pesticides and fertilizers.

"As designated growers, we receive many emails from patients across Canada concerned about the quality of the marijuana they're purchasing on the street. We want to give patients assurance of a toxic-free certified organic product" Wendy Little stated.

In Canada, the use of medical marijuana is legal. Little and Nash want to ensure there is a safe supply of medicinal cannabis readily available to Canadian patients.

Health Canada is not yet supplying patients with a readily available source of medical marijuana. Prairie Plant Systems Inc. received a five-year, $5.7-million federal contract to grow marijuana in an old copper mine in Flin Flon, Manitoba.

"Many sick people have to rely on drug dealers to supply their medicine," says Nash, "They're being forced into the position of having to buy marijuana from unknown sources, possibly laden with pesticides, herbicides and contaminants. This is wrong."

Little and Nash are founders of one of the internet's leading medical marijuana resource websites with 500,000 hits monthly.

They've been interviewed by the BBC London, The Guardian, The National Post, CBC, Radio New Zealand, Global TV, Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen and many other national and international media sources.

Their website has been noted as a national reference resource by the Canadian AIDS Society, the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, doctors, hospice workers, health professionals and patients from across Canada and around the world.

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It's Official: The Organic Dope Crop

from The London UK Guardian
Date: March 07, 2003
by Ellen Himelfarb

Canada has always looked to the Pacific province of British Columbia as its organic conscience - the first to bring pockmarked fruit and gluten-free muffins into the mainstream.

It's also the leading garden in the country's billion-dollar black-market marijuana industry. Now, for the first time since 2001, when the government granted doctors the right to prescribe cannabis in terminal cases, a BC couple have united the region's two strong suits.

After applying to become medical marijuana growers, Eric Nash and Wendy Little - from the Vancouver Island town of Duncan - sought the blessing of the local organic body. Last month, inspectors from the Certified Organic Association of BC slapped a blue ribbon on the prize Nash stash.

As the news filters through their quiet residential neighbourhood, Nash and Little are becoming celebrities.

The long haul began two years ago, when Little's father was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. He inspired the couple to launch their website, which they hoped would attract a new breed of sanctioned pusher.

What it did lure were thousands of patients who, due to the dearth of lawful vintage, had been forced to fill their prescriptions on the streets.

The thought of all that impure puff tainting the market was too much to bear. "For four years we've been eating only certified organic food," says Nash, a web designer and former forestry worker, " and I haven't had the flu or a cold for two years."

A grassroots facility was constructed with $2,000 (£800), and the soil patrol was alerted. It would seem resources had been scarce for good reason. Legally, growers can only cultivate as many plants as will supply a single approved patient.

Little tends the 25 plants necessary to fix her beneficiary, a multiple sclerosis sufferer, with five grams per day - sold at cost. Nash's MS-afflicted patient takes one gram daily, the yield of five plants.

That their wee cartel isn't generating briefcases of unmarked notes hasn't curbed their enthusiasm. Nash and Little, both seasoned lecturers, have signed on to teach the science and protocol of organic medicinal pot harvesting at the local university.

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Medical-Marijuana 101: Malaspina Goes to Pot

Monday, October 20, 2003
from Times Colonist - Victoria, B.C.
by Jack Knox

Hmm, got some time to spare and a yearn to learn, let's see what they're offering at Malaspina's continuing education department: Creative drawing, darkroom photography, Microsoft PowerPoint, pruning ornamental shrubs, medical marijuana...

What? This can't be for real. I mean, who would want to learn how to prune ornamental shrubs?

But the medical-marijuana course, it hardly raised an eyebrow after they added it to the list at the university-college's Cowichan campus this fall.

It's a one-day seminar, to be taught by Eric Nash, the Duncan man who, along with wife Wendy Little, recently earned organic certification for the pot they grow. Read all about it on their 200-page Web site.

Cyberpot? Organically grown dope? Schools that teach Marijuana for Beginners? This, of course, confirms everything the rest of Canada ever thought about B.C., where the streets are lined with lava lamps and the national anthem has been replaced by Tommy James and the Shondells singing Crimson and Clover.

Yes, well, we're used to the stereotype. What's newer, though, is the shift in opinions, legal and public, that allowed Malaspina to take the phrase "higher learning" so literally.

Teaching dope-growing used to earn you 10 years, not tenure.

Not that Nash's Nov. 15 course is really about running a grow show. The focus is on negotiating Canada's medical marijuana laws, a how-to guide to applying for the right smoke legally.

Still, the existence of any marijuana-related course is something that only recently would have been contemplated. Malaspina's Janet Germann says the idea was greeted with rumbles of reservation -- "It was almost pulled out of the brochure" -- but won public praise after being allowed to proceed.

Nash recognizes the change. "Every few days I turn to Wendy and say, 'A few years ago, who would have thought that we would be doing this?' "

"This" is not just the Malaspina course, but the Web site and the pot they grow with Health Canada's blessing.

It began in 2001, the year Ottawa reluctantly introduced rules that would allow access to medical marijuana. The feds, uncertain about the medical benefits and worried about back-door legalization for recreational users, didn't want to make things easy.

Wendy's dad, suffering from advanced Parkinson's disease, found the process difficult. Eric, a Web designer, researched the regulations and posted his findings on the Internet. "Then the site just started getting traffic," says Nash.

Pretty soon Wendy and Eric had each volunteered to produce pot for one smoker, as allowed under the law. Most of the 642 Canadians licensed to have medical marijuana grow it themselves, but 58 people designate others to do it for them.

Nash and Little jumped through the hoops to make it all legal, liaising with the RCMP, submitting to criminal record checks. Canada is dotted with self-described medical-marijuana organizations that push the boundaries of the law by dispensing the drug to thousands of unlicensed users, but Nash says he and Wendy go strictly by the book.

"Every gram is accounted for. Every crop is accounted for." They also got that organic certification by adhering to rules governing everything from the soil to the paint on the walls.

Eric's licence allows him to grow 15 plants at a time; Wendy may grow 25, the amount needed to supply her patient with the physician-prescribed five grams a day. There's no money in it, Nash says. The $100 they charge for an ounce of certified organic pot just covers costs, he says, adding wistfully that he wishes it could be done more profitably.

Ah, but maybe it can. An Ontario court ruling has been interpreted as stating that designated growers can produce pot for as many licensed smokers as they want, so applications are in the works for Eric and Wendy to grow for another half dozen patients. Health Canada, however, says the one-grower, one-patient rule remains.

Nash distances himself from any suggestion that his is some sort of Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers operation.

"We're just basic people," he says, university grads in their 40s, out to help ailing folk who want medical marijuana. "They don't want to be going into a head shop to buy a pipe, and they don't want to be going down to East Hastings to buy some weed." (The government distributed some of its own dope this summer, but the product was roundly criticized as being too weak and hard on the throat.)

Hence the Malaspina seminar, for which about 10 people have signed up. It will mostly deal with negotiating the bureaucracy, but will also involve plant selection. (The pain-relieving indica strain is better for conditions like multiple sclerosis, Nash says, while the sativa variety is more of a stimulant, something that may increase the appetite of someone with cancer or AIDS.)

Rudimentary growing will also be taught. "We're not going to get into the technical details of hydroponics and that sort of thing. It's basically how to throw a seed in a pot and get good results."

Not the sort of thing you would have expected to hear a few years ago, and not, perhaps, something we will hear in the future. Canada's new health minister, Anne McLellan, has made it clear that she is not in love with the whole concept of medical marijuana, which she says has no basis in science. Don't expect it to remain legal if studies don't prove it to have therapeutic value.

But medical marijuana is legal right now, so Malaspina is happy to have the subject taught as part of its Healthy Outlooks program.

"We're going to offer it again next spring," says Germann, the administrative co-ordinator of the continuing education department. "It's a sign of the times, isn't it?

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Medical Marijuana University Course: Continuing Education

Island Harvest partners Wendy Little and Eric Nash teach courses about medical marijuana at the Malaspina University-College Cowichan Campus in Duncan, B.C.

The course is an introduction to the Health Canada cannabis access system, and how to apply to use, possess and grow marijuana for medical purposes. Strains and organic growing are also discussed.

Medical Marijuana
Course ID: HEMM 001

Government licensed organic marijuana growers will show you how to apply for Health Canada's medical marijuana access program.

Topics include patient and grower application forms and plant strain selection for various medical conditions.

Wendy Little and Eric Nash are the founders of Canada's leading medical marijuana resource website.

Their website is noted as a national reference for the Canadian AIDS Society, the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, health professionals, patients, and licensed growers from across Canada and around the world.

They have been interviewed by BBC London England, CBC, Radio New Zealand, Global TV, and many other national and international media sources, including our very own Citizen newspaper!

Section: F03D2 [Cowichan Campus]
Fee: $48 + GST
Instructors: Eric Nash and Wendy Little
Schedule: Contact Malaspina College.

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