Pubdate: Sat, 16 Mar 2013
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2013 The Vancouver Sun
Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Page: C3

MARIJUANA SHOULD BE MADE A FULL-FLEDGED PRESCRIPTION DRUG

"It is time for the government to make up its mind." So says Canadian
Medical Association Journal editor-in-chief John Fletcher in the
current issue of the journal. "Does it want marijuana to become a medicine?"

It's a good question, and one that Fletcher poses in response to
proposed changes to the medical marijuana regulations, changes that,
according to Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, "strike the right balance
between public access and public safety."

Noting that, "In the past decade, Canada's Marihuana Medical Access
program has grown exponentially, from under 500 authorized persons in
2002 to over 26,000 today," the feds expressed concern that many
people have been hiding behind the regulations to produce marijuana in
their homes.

This has resulted in significant threats to public safety given that
growing operations frequently catch fire. Consequently, the new
regulations will open the market to companies that meet "strict
security guidelines."

While these changes won't eliminate growing operations, they might
help to reduce their number. And in that sense the proposed
regulations might help improve public safety. But there is more.

Safety and access, say the feds, will be enhanced by treating
marijuana "as much as possible like any other narcotic used for
medical purposes." And that means the federal health minister will no
longer authorize a patient to use marijuana; rather, authorization
will come from a health care practitioner, who will sign "a medical
document similar to a prescription."

Now that certainly makes marijuana look like other prescribed drugs.
But as Fletcher argues, looks can be deceiving: "What characterizes a
prescription medicine is that it has an identifiable compound or
active ingredient that has a known potency in its pure form; its
pharmacokinetics and route of delivery are understood; it is delivered
safely; it is manufactured with a consistent formulation; and it has
undergone regulatory studies and been approved as having a favourable
balance of benefits and harms."

And how many of these criteria does medical marijuana produced under
the proposed regulations satisfy? None.

The reason is simple. The marijuana that would be accessed under the
new regulations will not be subject to proper testing, which means the
potency of its compounds will remain unclear. And smoking marijuana
leaves is probably an unhealthy way to deliver their active
ingredients.

There is a way to remedy these problems, however. And that involves
treating marijuana, not "as much as possible" like other medically
used narcotics, but exactly like other medically used narcotics. That
means, in Fletcher's words, working "with the pharmaceutical companies
to ensure that this is a properly researched and developed drug."

Until that time, Fletcher advises that physicians should not be
prescribing marijuana. But while the CMAJ editorial is primarily - and
understandably - concerned with physicians being "lulled" into
prescribing a drug that isn't a prescription drug, everyone should be
concerned with patients getting a prescription drug that isn't.

The federal government ought to be commended for developing
regulations that allow people access to marijuana for medical
purposes. But to ensure public safety, the feds ought to ensure
consumers of medical marijuana receive the same protections as
consumers of any other drug taken for medical purposes. And that means
making marijuana a full-fledged prescription drug rather than one that
just looks like it.
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MAP posted-by: Matt