Delta 9, Manitoba medical marijuana facility, offers glimpse inside

Amid controversy surrounding illegal medical marijuana dispensaries in Canada, one government-approved Manitoba grower agreed to show CBC News how his business operates from the inside.

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John Arbuthnot isthe vice-president of Delta 9, the only medical marijuana growing facility in Manitoba that's licensed to sell cannabis.

The warehouse in the east end of Winnipeg houses about 1,000 marijuana plants and is licensed to produce about 380 kilograms per year.

"These are some of the most potent and some of the priciest varieties that we have in our product portfolio," Arbuthnot said as he gave a CBC Manitoba crew a tour of the growing rooms this week.

Arbuthnotsaid he got theidea forstarting the businessyears ago after seeing the benefits of medical marijuana for some of his relatives who had medical conditions.

Arbuthnothas a team of experienced marijuana growers at the facility. Theplantsare harvested andtested by Health Canada before they arepackaged for commercial use.

'Growing pains'

Hisbusiness has been operating for abouta year andthere have been challenges.

"Pardon the pun, but there's always growing pains with any new industry," he said.

All 15 full-time employees at Delta 9 have had to undergo criminal background checks, and the high-securitybuilding is inspected by Health Canada every 30 days.

Health Canada's strict regulations have taken time to adapt to, Arbuthnot said.

"It's one thing for them to be words on a page;it's another thing to deal with the challenges that will arise," he said.

Arbuthnotplans to expand the facilitynext year to meet a growingdemand.

Right now, he has 750 registered clients from across Canada, with 1,300 patients on a waiting list.

His government-approved facility stands in contrast to Your Medical Cannabis Headquarters, also in Winnipeg, which has been in the spotlight lately for staying open despite police orders to close.

The controversy has led a Winnipeg doctor, who has admitted towritingmedical marijuana authorization letters for select patients in the city,to distance himself fromthe dispensary.

Vancouver has also had issues,with the number ofmedical marijuana dispensaries growing rapidly over the past yearuntil there were almost 100 sites. The city responded by approving regulations that made it the first city in Canada to license and regulate pot shops.