Saskatoon

Brent Zettl of Prairie Plant Systems takes run at Saskatoon pot dispensary

Brent Zettl with Prairie Plant Systems spoke before a council committee today to relay concerns with access, delivery and production at Saskatoon's first medical marijuana dispensary.

'Here to straighten out some facts'

Brent Zettl has concerns with the city's medical marijuana dispensary. (Dan Zakreski/CBC)

It's not that Brent Zettl thinks there's no place for a medical marijuana dispensary in Saskatoon.

It just shouldn't be dispensing marijuana.

Rather, he said it has a role to inform the public and people who use medical pot.

Zettl is president of Prairie Plant Systems Inc.. The company has worked in the medical marijuana field since 1990. Zettl asked to speak to the planning and development committee about the city's first medical marijuana dispensary.

"I'm here to straighten out some facts," he said.

These storefront operations should be seen as drug traffickers.- Brent Zettl

​Zettl takes issue with claims made by the dispensary on several fronts.

He said that access to medical marijuana is not a problem. He said deliveries to registered customers is typically 48 hours, not six weeks. He added that federally-licensed producers harvested and stored thousands kilograms of marijuana last year.

He also said that professional marijuana growers are able to ensure a base level of potency in their crops. He said that there is no quality control in the pot sold by dispensaries.

"Cannabis clubs or dispensaries do not sell medical cannabis. Quite simply, these storefront operations should be seen as drug traffickers and held to charge in every instance."

The planning and development committee voted to have Zettl's concerns incorporated into a report coming to council on medical marijuana dispensaries.