Pubdate: Wed, 28 Jan 2015
Source: StarPhoenix, The (CN SN)
Copyright: 2015 The StarPhoenix
Contact: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/400
Author: Bill McKay
Page: A6
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v15/n043/a07.html?1157

STICK TO EDUCATION

I am concerned about the article Student banned from using medical 
marijuana at school (SP, Jan 17).

Surely there is more to this story. If not, the ruling is a most 
astonishing example of a Kafkaesque bureaucracy gone mad by 
functionaries unqualified to make it. It would be laughable if they 
were not possibly destroying a young man's future.

In addition, the ruling is tinged with hostility by the 
superintendent's emotionladen use of the phrase, "under the 
influence," and her conflation of a prescribed medical treatment with 
being "under the influence of alcohol or drugs."

I have trouble imagining how this ruling will affect "the safety of 
all campus members," who are presumably now no longer shaking in fear.

Some employers will pay to send a staff member away on a course to 
improve their performance. May I suggest four years of medical 
school, three of family practice residency and a year or two of 
chronic pain training. Failing that, Saskatoon Public Schools should 
concern themselves with whether the student is learning.

If not, the student should consult his physician about medication 
adjustments if excessive sedation or excessive pain seems to be a cause.

Dr. Bill McKay Professor, department of anesthesia University of Saskatchewan
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom