Pubdate: Thu, 06 Dec 2012
Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB)
Copyright: 2012 The Edmonton Journal
Website: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134
Page: A24

STIRRING THE MEDICAL POT

A dozen years after a landmark Alberta court ruling paved the way for
greater use of medicinal marijuana in Canada, federal legislation
governing its use has produced a perverse system that's failing both
patients in pain and the doctors charged with their care.

The ridiculous state of legalized marijuana treatment in this country
is brought into sharp focus by a new Canadian Medical Association
survey that finds many doctors refuse to take part in the program,
often for ethical and legal reasons. In the absence of research-based
guidelines and training about dosage, potency, sourcing and efficacy,
they just don't feel comfortable filling out that prescription.

The situation only promises to get worse. Rather than continuing to
serve as the ultimate arbiter in approving or rejecting marijuana
applications, Health Canada is proposing new regulations that would
make doctors the sole "gatekeepers" to the drug.

It is 12 years ago this month that Alberta Court of Queen's Bench
Justice Darlene Acton ruled that Calgary multiple sclerosis sufferer
Grant Krieger had the right to grow and cultivate marijuana, after
noting the absurdity in the federal law of the day that gave Canadians
suffering from severe illness the right to possess marijuana but no
legal outlet for obtaining it. A year later, the federal government
made it possible for sick Canadians to buy medicinal marijuana through
legal means. But the new treatment protocol hasn't progressed much
further in the intervening years.

The latest CMA survey finds its members are still so nervous about the
medical use of marijuana that one-third of MDs who have been asked to
endorse a patient's access to the drug never agree to it. Another 25
per cent of doctors who responded to the survey said they would
"seldom" be willing to support a patient's access to medicinal pot.
And 64 per cent are worried that patients who request medical
marijuana may only want it to get high.

The doctors have a right to be nervous. It is difficult to tell the
clever scammers from the legitimate pain sufferers, and the potency of
the drug has changed over the years. How are doctors to feel at ease
prescribing a drug without the information they need to use it safely
and appropriately? On the other hand, how are sick people in pain
served by outright blanket refusals, no matter what an individual
physician might think about what once was characterized as the demon
weed? There has to be a better way. CMA president Dr. Anna Reid says
there is great uncertainty about what constitutes a safe dose of
marijuana and how to administer the drug. While many patients use
marijuana safely, she believes "there's a potential huge harm to this
drug" and doctors are worried about "getting caught in the crossfire."

Close to 60 per cent of doctors surveyed say they have insufficient
information on the risks and benefits of marijuana for medical purposes.

Research by Health Canada that might have answered some of those basic
questions was terminated by the Harper Conservatives back in 2006.

And now a government not unknown for its tough-on-crime sensibilities
is looking to get out of the marijuana market.

Reid warns the proposed changes to the government's medical marijuana
access program could actually see even fewer doctors willing to
prescribe it.

It's the new reefer madness.
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MAP posted-by: Matt