Pubdate: Sat, 27 Aug 2016
Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON)
Copyright: 2016 Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact: http://www.torontosun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://torontosun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/457
Author: Camille Bains
Page: 50

DOCS: FEDS SHOULD REGULATE THC LEVELS

VANCOUVER - The Canadian Medical Association says 72% of doctors who
responded to a survey it conducted want the federal government to
regulate THC levels in recreational marijuana.

A total of 788 doctors, or 19% of the association's membership,
responded to the survey earlier this summer, the group's annual
meeting heard Wednesday.

Dr. Jeff Blackmer, vice-president of medical professionalism at the
association, said the survey was based on federal Health Minister Jane
Philpott's request for feedback from physicians.

"We really want to take a public health view to this and represent the
views of physicians the same way we would on other issues, for
example, smoking or alcohol use," he told the meeting.

"It's not to say that we do or don't support legalization, it's to say
if it is legalized, here's what we think that should look like."

THC is the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

Blackmer said doctors who responded to the survey were split on
whether the government should combine recreational and medicinal
marijuana regimes or deal with them as separate issues as part of
legislation that is set to be introduced next spring.

Over 57% of survey respondents said they did not want medical
marijuana to be sold in health-care settings, such as pharmacies.

"The feeling was that that would send the wrong message, that in fact
recreational marijuana was somehow equated with other types of
pharmaceutical products," Blackmer said.

Forty-seven per cent of respondents said pot should be distributed in
non-health care settings, such as liquor stores, where there would be
regulatory controls on who could buy it, along with requirements for
identification.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has mused about selling marijuana
through the province's liquor stores. In British Columbia, the B.C.
Government and Service Employees' Union and the B.C. Private Liquor
Store Association have joined forces to advocate for the right to sell
recreational cannabis through public and private liquor stores.

Doctors responding to the survey were also divided on whether people
with medical exemptions could grow their own marijuana.

However, a new law that came into effect on Wednesday allows users
with a medical exemption to grow a limited amount of the plant or have
someone else cultivate it for them.

Nearly 87% of physicians who took part in the survey said they need
updated research on the harms of cannabis.

The association said it will meet with a federal task force
considering recommendations involving marijuana legislation.
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MAP posted-by: Matt