MediJean Defines Medical Marijuana Industry Quality Assurance Standards

VANCOUVER, Feb. 5, 2014 /CNW/ - MediJean, a medical marijuana company who has been given approval by Health Canada to grow medical cannabis for R&D purposes, is defining the quality assurance standards that they believe must be met by all involved in the medical marijuana industry.

"Quality assurance is an initiative that we are taking seriously," said Jean Chiasson, chief executive officer at MediJean.  "We have built a team that will ensure our standards meet or exceed the safety, quality and consistency of a 'Ready to Eat Food' product.  It is our policy at MediJean to not only deliver quality, but breed it, to guarantee that patients who use our medicine get the best medical marijuana available."

Pete Martin, who has over 35 years of experience in the quality assurance, quality control and quality services field, leads the Quality Assurance Department at MediJean.  He has implemented an organized, systematic approach to product safety and security from a bacterial, chemical and quality perspective.  This means keeping the plants safe and secure from contamination and poor growing conditions, while ensuring a rigorous anti-contamination plan is followed from the time the seed is planted, to the moment the medicine is shipped to the patient.

MediJean's Product Safety and Security Plan is based on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) principles and is well on its way to achieving ISO9001:2008 Certification.  They are adhering to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) as defined in the Canadian Food and Drug Act, and will exceed microbiological and chemical standards as stated by both the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) guidelines and those set by British Pharmacopoeia.  It is clear that they are committed to being the standard bearer for this new industry.

"By implementing these principles we will ensure the medicine we produce is mould free, without the use of gamma radiation," said Martin.  "We know gamma radiation is a preferred method for some in the industry, but it is not fool proof.  Although it can kill the viable mould and possibly the mould spores, it will not impact the aflotoxins, many of which are carcinogenic.  For us, it is important to protect our patients from being exposed to those. We also know that gamma radiation destroys the essential oils, called terpenes, which are naturally produced by the plant and play an important synergistic role in the body."

MediJean believes that if people are seriously evaluating medical marijuana providers, they must pay attention to the quality assurance standards that companies are adhering to.  The details of MediJean's quality assurance plan will be maintained through daily supervisory and quality assurance checklists, weekly GMP facility audits, and monthly HACCP audits.

MediJean is leading the rebirth of medical marijuana through a laser focus on research, quality and patient experience by implementing best practices here and around the world.  Doctors and nurse practitioners will understand and safely prescribe it within a clinical framework, patients will have access to clean and affordable medicine, and research partners will help the company expand the frontiers of medical marijuana in the years ahead.  To learn more about MediJean and their plan to lead this new industry visit www.medijean.com and signup for their regular updates.

Quick Facts:

• MediJean has adopted the World Health Organization's "specifications for Herbal Medicine which may be ingested orally without using boiling water" guidelines, i.e. ready to ingest guidelines.
• These specifications consist of:
• Total plate count, less than 500,000 Colony Forming Units (CFU)
• Yeast and Mould together, less than 50,000 CFU
• Enteric Bacteria, less than 5,000 CFU
• Zero detected for E. coli (including E. coli 0157), and pathogens such as Salmonella, Shigella, Listeria sp., Champyobacter and Staphylococcus "a".
• Aflotoxins are produced by several types of moulds. Since MediJean will be testing throughout the growing cycles, they will be able to identify and eradicate any moulds if they were to appear.  They will also test the finished product to ensure that it meets the strict safety threshold of less than 20 PPB.

SOURCE: MediJean