Pubdate: Sat, 11 Jan 2014
Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON)
Copyright: 2014 Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact: http://www.ottawasun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://www.ottawasun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/329

HOSPITAL OKS POT USE

Dying Patient Can Smoke in His Room

SHERBROOKE, Que. - A patient with terminal cancer is smoking 
marijuana in his hospital room in Quebec's Eastern Townships in a 
case that politicians are watching closely.

Quebec's health minister tells QMI Agency that he wants to see what 
the CHUS hospital does about Charles Bury's pot consumption before 
deciding whether or not to take action.

Medicinal marijuana is legal in Canada, and Bury's doctor allowed him 
to smoke the drug, but the hospital has not sanctioned the move.

Bury inhales the marijuana through a vapour machine as he waits for a 
place in a residence where he can spent his final days.

Though it's legal to consume marijuana with a doctor's note, the drug 
is not on the CHUS hospital's list of products that can be prescribed 
to patients.

Bury, a longtime columnist and editor at the Sherbrooke Record, one 
of Quebec's two English-language daily newspapers, has long argued 
for the widespread legalization of marijuana in Canada.

He says it's time for the government to clear up the grey zone.

"I think it's important that everyone has the opportunity to make his 
own choice, as I'm now doing for myself," he said.

Quebec Health Minister Rejean Hebert said he will monitor the situation.

"The CHUS in Sherbrooke is the first institution that has faced this 
situation," said the minister.

"Currently, it's tolerated. Does it need to be regulated? Is there a 
place for a ... policy on the issue? Recent events are pushing us to 
think about it."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom