Pubdate: Sat, 21 Jun 2014
Source: Chatham Daily News, The (CN ON)
Copyright: 2014 Chatham Daily News
Contact: http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/letters
Website: http://www.chathamdailynews.ca
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1627
Webpage: http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2014/06/20/21755866.html
Author: Brian Daly
Page: B2
Cited: http://mapinc.org/url/CAxT0vr7

QUEBEC HOSPITAL ALLOWS POT USE IN ROOMS

MONTREAL - The main hospital in Quebec's Eastern Townships has put
governments on the spot with its policy on pot.

Doctors, dentists and pharmacists at CHUS hospital this week
unanimously approved marijuana use by patients who are federally
licensed to own the drug.

The patients will have to use vapour machines and bring their own pot
into the hospital.

Administration is expected to decide soon if it will formally approve
the doctors' recommendation.

The Canadian Medical Association wouldn't comment on the case Friday,
but the CHUS doctors appear to be out of step with the CMA on the issue.

In a June 2013 position paper, the CMA said there was "no clinical
evidence" to support the use of marijuana as a medical treatment.

"We have no information on potency, dosage or how it interacts with
other therapies," said the CMA. "The beneficial effects of marijuana
have not been rigorously tested and it has a huge potential to cause
harm."

Patients at CHUS hospital who want to use pot will have to comply with
several conditions, including using "a vapourizer in a negative
pressure room or a private room," said Dr. Serge Lepage, president of
the CHUS doctors' association.

Lepage says the marijuana policy only applies to his hospital but he
adds, "I feel that it will stimulate discussion elsewhere."

The Quebec government has said it will monitor the situation before
deciding whether to introduce regulations.
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MAP posted-by: Matt