Medical marijuana company fine with patients growing their own

The only legal pot producer in Atlantic Canada is welcoming a recent court decision that could allow medical marijuana users to grow their own.

Denis Arsenault, CEO of Organigram in Moncton, says he respects Canadians' rights to grow their own medical marijuana.

• Moncton's OrganiGram gets off to a blazing start

On Wednesday, a federal court decision struck down regulations restricting the rights of medical marijuana patients to grow their own cannabis.

Arsenault doesn't see it as something that will be bad for the fast-growing business.

"The market grows by about 2,500 patients every month," he said. "If you want to put that in perspective, 2,000 patients you know coming into the system every month represents about six billion dollars in sales a year."

Organigram is one of only 16 companies in the country licensed to grow and sell medical marijuana.

It started shipping product out to customers about a year ago.

Arsenault says rather than restricting people from growing their own, laws should focus on keeping pot out of the hands of children.

"If I have any concerns it's to make sure any legislation is very tight to ensure that the product is produced in a very controlled environment," he offered. "And that the system makes sure that no black market product can find its way into the supply stream."

Job creation possibilities

Other than that, Arsenault hopes the main focus for the province is turning medical marijuana into a cash crop.

"I'm sure the Gallant government, or I would hope, is looking at how we can maximize the economic benefit here in New Brunswick," he said. "How could we create jobs in this brand new industry and you know that New Brunswick which is my home, can benefit from this new industry."

The federal court gave Ottawa six months to come up with new rules for medical marijuana patients who wish to grow their own cannabis.