Mike Harcourt, Former B.C. Premier, Joins Medical Marijuana Company

Former B.C. premier Mike Harcourt is the new chair of medical marijuana company True Leaf Medicine Inc.

True Leaf has applied to Health Canada to grow and distribute medical cannabis from a facility in Lumby, B.C. It is one of several new firms joining the industry since new federal rules requiring doctors to prescribe cannibs came into effect April 1.

Harcourt said that True Leaf will deal with concerns over safety, scientific efficacy, and reliability.

"By separating fact from folklore, True Leaf has an opportunity to fill in the knowledge gap for both doctors and end users when it comes to aligning a specific ailment with a documented cannabis remedy," he said in a news release Tuesday.

Harcourt was the mayor of Vancouver from 1980 to 1986 and B.C. premier from 1991 to 1996.

Another prominent retired politician from B.C., Kash Heed, is now a consultant for medical marijuana companies. He previously held the positions of B.C. solicitor general and chief of the West Vancouver Police Department. In blogs for The Huffington Post B.C., Heed has been a vocal supporter of legalizing marijuana.