Pubdate: Fri, 09 Jan 2015
Source: Chronicle Herald (CN NS)
Copyright: 2015 The Halifax Herald Limited
Contact:  http://www.herald.ns.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/180
Author: Paul McLeod

N.S. DOCTORS 'DON'T HAVE DATA' ON MEDICAL POT USE

No one knows exactly how many people legally smoke marijuana in Nova
Scotia anymore under a new system that places doctors as the sole
gatekeepers to the drug.

Health Canada previously tracked medical marijuana licences across the
country. But the federal department stopped on April 1, 2014, when
approvals fell into the laps of Canadian doctors.

Health Canada said Friday it no longer keeps tabs on the exact number
of medical pot users.

The Canadian Medical Association and other doctor groups widely
opposed the switch. They have developed new rules for prescribing the
drug but are not able to track it themselves.

"It's not monitored. And we don't know how to do that. We don't have
the data," said Gus Grant, head of the Nova Scotia College of
Physicians & Surgeons.

Under the old system, doctors would still sign off on pot use but
ultimate approval rested with Health Canada. Under the new system, the
approval rests solely with doctors.

The problem is that marijuana is not a licensed drug and the science
is still uncertain.

"My general sense is that most docs are leery of this (approval)
responsibility. Most docs are frustrated with the quality of the
evidence. And most docs have a lot of uncertainty with legal issues,"
said Grant.

"We can't really answer with any real confidence questions about risk
and benefit. We can't really answer with any real confidence questions
about dose and response."

Last June, the college approved a set of rules on approving medical
pot in Nova Scotia.

They include that doctors must prescribe the drug face to face, as
opposed to over Skype or the phone. Doctors also cannot charge extra
fees for prescribing pot.

Marijuana cannot be prescribed as the first treatment, but rather is
to be used when other treatments fail. That means the drug cannot be
prescribed the first time a doctor meets a patient.

However, the college says it is not its role to dictate what ailments
can be treated by pot. In fact, when doctors sign a form approving
marijuana use, they do not list what the treatment is for.

With Health Canada ceasing its tracking, it's impossible to know what
impact this has on the number of legal pot smokers.

In early 2014, before the switchover, there were 1,758 licences to
smoke pot in Nova Scotia.

That's a threefold increase since 2009.

The spike has happened across the country. In early 2014, there were
35,000 licensed pot users nationally, more than 10 times as many as
five years earlier. Health Canada predicts that trend to increase and
for there to be over 300,000 legal pot users within a decade.

The inconsistent approach can also be a frustration to pot users.
Sambro resident and medical marijuana user Tony Beare said doctors
tend to be very hesitant to prescribe the drug. He said many are
worried about repercussions from Health Canada.

"Health Canada gives out these things but they don't give the doctors
any support at all," he said. "Everything they tell the doctors is
negative."

Health Canada discourages use of the drug but has no choice but to
allow it.

The courts have ruled Canadians must have reasonable access to medical
marijuana when authorized by a doctor.  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D