Pubdate: Tue, 31 Jul 2001
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2001, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Section: Print Edition, Page A1
Author: Colin Freeze, Carolyn Abraham
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada)

MARIJUANA REGULATION DRAWS FIRE

Doctors Unhappy Over The Lack Of Testing Under New Rules For Medicinal Use 
Of Pot

Canada has become the first country in the world to allow people in medical 
need to possess marijuana, but becoming a government-sanctioned pot-smoker 
will not be easy.

First, you have to be very sick or close to dying. Second, you have to have 
doctors vouch that all other remedies to fight the pain have failed while 
only cannabis -- the herb Queen Victoria inhaled to relieve menstrual 
cramps -- makes a difference. Third, you have to find a reliable source. 
And until Health Canada's supply is harvested from a northern Manitoba mine 
shaft, the options are tricky.

The new regulation, which took effect yesterday, is drawing international 
attention as a daring move. Yet within the country, doctors complain that 
they will bear the brunt of deciding who should be allowed to use the drug 
while marijuana activists criticize a system that gives access only to 
society's sickest.

"We're really unhappy. This is the first place in the world where this is 
being allowed to happen and we're the ones that have to take the 
responsibility for it," said Peter Barrett, president of the Canadian 
Medical Association.

"We're being asked to be the gatekeepers for a product that hasn't gone 
through any rigorous testing."

Health Canada officials, who were swamped with inquiries yesterday, said 
they realize they are in a "unique situation." But court decisions giving 
sick people the right to possess and use marijuana over the past four years 
have forced the government to take action. As a result, Health Canada says 
it is trying to make the drug available "on compassionate grounds."

Until yesterday, anyone hoping to use marijuana for medical purposes had to 
apply for a special exemption from prosecution under the law. To date, 
about 300 people have received exemptions. Now those applicants fall under 
the new regulations.

But marijuana activist Steve Van de Kemp says the new rules are a small 
step and that red tape will prevent too many sick people from legally using 
the drug. "Truthfully, the solution to this whole mess is they have to 
legalize marijuana," he said. Mr. Van de Kemp said that because of the new 
rules, he will have to reapply within six months for his exemption status 
that he first got last summer. Because he suffers from depression and 
anxiety, he needs the signatures of two specialists to make his pot-smoking 
legal.

People with a terminal disease (such as AIDS or cancer) need the signature 
of only one doctor.

Mr. Van de Kemp suspects he'll have trouble landing his two signatures 
since doctors worry about certifying marijuana use.

"You may as well get me a Super 7 ticket for Friday," he said.

Dr. Barrett said most physicians are reluctant to participate in the 
government's medical-marijuana program.

They worry about recommending an untested drug without knowing the full 
side effects, proper dosages or how it might interact with other drugs.

He also predicted the new regulation will strain doctor and patient 
relationships: "Everyone who wants marijuana for recreational use will be 
on the doorstep and then we'll be the ones who have to say no."

The Canadian Medical Association opposes issuing certificates for patients 
to smoke marijuana before Health Canada receives results from clinical 
trials in Toronto and Montreal that will evaluate marijuana's potential as 
a pain reliever.

Patients are meanwhile left to navigate an underground system of 
connections to procure marijuana. Yesterday on Toronto's Queen Street West, 
for example, one pharmacist said he hadn't the faintest idea how to get 
pot. A walk-in clinic receptionist said the doctor was far too busy to 
entertain such questions.

Only the owner of a nearby marijuana-paraphernalia store had a suggestion: 
Get in touch with your local "compassion club."

Compassion clubs are networks that have long supplied cannabis to people in 
medical need at prices below street value. Mr. Van de Kemp, who heads the 
50-member Ontario Compassion Club, said the organization also gets doctors' 
recommendations before it dispenses.

But even the clubs must rely on illicit drug sources and until Health 
Canada's supply is ready for harvest, product from the street makes doctors 
nervous. As well, there is some concern that the photo identity cards 
patients receive in order to possess, and in some cases, grow their own 
marijuana, will become big hits with counterfeiters.

Under the new regulations, medical marijuana users can grow their own 
supply, designate someone else to grow it for them, or wait until Health 
Canada has its product available.

Applications for protection from prosecution under the new rules will be 
available from Health Canada through the Internet.

In the meantime, patients will have to jump through the bureaucratic gaps 
between supply and demand.
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MAP posted-by: GD