Pubdate: Tue, 11 Dec 2012 Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC) Copyright: 2012 The Vancouver Sun Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477 Author: Arnold Shoichet Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v12/n627/a02.html MARIJUANA FOR MEDICAL PURPOSES A LEGAL RIGHT Re: Doctors hesitant to be pot 'gatekeeper,' Opinion, Dec. 5 I appreciated Sharon Kirkey's wide-ranging coverage of a difficult topic. From the perspective of a doctor who supports patients who use medicinal marijuana, I was disappointed that there was not clearer acknowledgment of two details that I consider important. The first is that there is a significant difference between the use of cannabis for recreation, and its use for medicine. The difference is not well understood, but they are clearly not the same thing. Recreational users smoke marijuana to experience the psychological euphoria or "high." Medical users consume it usually in edible forms, and have a quite different response. For certain patients, including many who live with chronic pain, the benefits of cannabis are remarkable. It can relieve symptoms more effectively than conventional treatments, with fewer side effects and apparently greater safety. It is widely noted that there has not been a recorded death from overdose. The second detail is that in Canada, access to marijuana for medical purposes is a legal right, as defined by Canadian Courts. Solving how we as a society carry out the intentions of the Court is at the heart of the issue. Arnold Shoichet, MD Advisory Board chair, Medicinal Cannabis Resource Centre - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom