The cost of providing medical marijuana to the country's injured soldiers under a Veterans Affairs program jumped to more than $4.3 million this fiscal year, an increase of 10 times what was spent last year.
And the number of ex-soldiers eligible for taxpayer-funded, prescribed pot more than quadrupled to 601 patients, according to figures released by the department.
The numbers represent a dramatic escalation, even from last fall, when former veterans minister Julian Fantino was told in a briefing note that there were 224 approved cases.
At the beginning of the last budget year there were 116 eligible veterans.
In 2013-14, the government spent $417,000 on medical marijuana for soldiers, said the briefing obtained by The Canadian Press under access to information legislation.
The jaw-dropping increases may represent a conundrum for Health Canada, which routinely warns against marijuana use, and the ruling Conservatives who have ridiculed Liberal Leader
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