Pubdate: Tue, 23 Apr 2002
Source: Halifax Herald (CN NS)
Copyright: 2002 The Halifax Herald Limited
Contact:  http://www.herald.ns.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/180
Author: Dennis Bueckert / Canadian Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada)

MCLELLAN PRESCRIBES CLINICAL TRIALS FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Drug's Distribution Delayed Indefinitely

Ottawa - Health Minister Anne McLellan won't release any of the marijuana 
being grown for the government to distribute to sick and dying patients 
until it has been tested in clinical trials, her spokeswoman said Monday.

The stipulation suggests the marijuana, being grown in an old mine Flin 
Flon, Man., won't be made available to severely sick or dying patients for 
years, if ever.

It also suggests McLellan is taking a much tougher line on the use of 
medical marijuana than her predecessor Allan Rock.

Clinical trials usually involve giving one group of people a drug and 
another group a placebo and observing differences. Such studies can take years.

And it's far from certain that clinical trials will in the end prove any 
therapeutic benefit, which raises the possibility that the Flin Flon crop 
will never be made available to sick people who claim it helps them.

When Rock announced the Manitoba pot-growing contract last July, he said 
some would be used for research and some could be given to patients who 
were severely ill or dying.

"It will ... be made available to authorized Canadians using it for medical 
purposes who agree to provide information to Health Canada for monitoring 
and research purposes," a news release at the time said.

The assumption implicit in McLellan's position is that the effectiveness of 
medical marijuana must be proven by rigorous scientific standards before 
patients who are dying can use it.

Farah Mohamed, McLellan's spokeswoman, insisted in an interview Monday that 
the department is merely following steps set out at the beginning, and time 
is not the main consideration.

"All of this goes to wanting to mitigate the risks associated with medical 
marijuana, if there are some, and ensuring there is therapeutic value," she 
said.

"Despite how much time it might take, if the goal is to ensure what you're 
doing is in the best interests of people who need marijuana for medicinal 
purposes ... then the time is well invested."

It's not known how long clinical trials will take, and Mohamed didn't say 
when they will begin.

Rock had invited doctors to sign certificates that their patients needed 
marijuana despite a lack of scientific evidence on its therapeutic 
effectiveness, which brought protests from some medical groups.

But some doctors have signed the documents and as of April 2, Health Canada 
had issued 205 authorizations for possession of marijuana. Those patients 
now have no choice but to grow their own, or get someone to grow it for 
them, with no legal seed source.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager