Pubdate: Thu, 14 May 2015
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2015 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Sheryl Ubelacker
Page: L7

MEDICINAL POT USE TO BE TRACKED IN QUEBEC

Cannabis Registry Is Established to Gather Data From 3,000 Users to 
Allow Researchers to Gauge the Drug's Safety and Effectiveness

Researchers in Quebec have launched a registry of medicinal cannabis 
users to determine the safety of the drug and its effectiveness in 
treating a variety of diseases and conditions.

The Quebec Cannabis Registry will be used to compile and store 
clinical data collected directly from about 3,000 medical marijuana 
users in the province, who will be enrolled through their 
primary-care doctors over a 10-year period.

"The registry is now basically open for business," said principal 
investigator Dr. Mark Ware, a family doctor and McGill researcher who 
specializes in pain management.

In April, 2014, Health Canada changed its regulations governing 
medical marijuana by requiring patients to obtain a prescription from 
their physicians and to purchase the herb from licensed growers.

While cannabis is not a medically recognized treatment, more than 
40,000 Canadians are estimated to legally use it to relieve the 
symptoms of such diseases as multiple sclerosis, HIV, cancer and epilepsy.

Each province and territory has its own prescribing guidelines for 
physicians, but in Quebec cannabis can be prescribed only as part of 
a research project.

Dr. Ware said the registry is a "real-world" research study that aims 
to collect data about who is using cannabis for medicinal purposes 
and why. Subjects, who will not be identified by name in the 
registry, will each be followed for four years after their enrolment.

"We're not specifying what kind of symptoms or disease, we're not 
specifying dosages," he said from Montreal.

"We're simply asking the physicians and patients to collect the 
information and submit it to the registry so that over time we can 
start to build up a better picture of who is using cannabis and for 
what reason, and how much they are using.

"And if over time we start to notice trends in the type of cannabis 
they use or the level of THC [the main active ingredient] that they 
prefer ... we may start to see patterns emerging when the data set 
gets large enough."

That could help doctors learn, for instance, that a specific variety 
of dried pot taken at a certain dosage has a beneficial effect on a 
particular symptom - perhaps pain or muscle spasticity.

Dr. Ware said marijuana is known to give short-term relief for pain, 
particularly pain caused by nerve damage as a result of diabetes, 
trauma, multiple sclerosis or spinal cord injury.

"We know that in the short term the drug can be quite effective in 
patients who failed all their other conventional approaches."

But the registry will also look at safety, based on patient reports 
of any adverse effects from the drug.

"In terms of long-term safety, really what we know about is from the 
use of recreational cannabis," Dr. Ware said, adding that about 40 
years of research have looked at marijuana's effects on the lungs, 
heart and brain.

"So we can extrapolate some information on safety from recreational 
studies but, of course, patients are using it for different reason. 
They may be using different amounts and they may have other 
medications on board, they may have other diseases as well."

Dr. Ware said the database will be made available to scientists 
across Canada and around the world.

"We need to improve our understanding of the real-world use of 
medical cannabis and to make these data available to other 
researchers and collaborators.

"The registry will eventually help us better understand the possible 
risks and benefits related to the use of this product."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom