Pubdate: Fri, 11 Jul 2003
Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB)
Copyright: 2003 The Edmonton Journal
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/edmonton/edmontonjournal/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134
Author: David Howell
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

PRESCRIBING POT COULD LEAD TO BREAK-INS, DOCTOR SAYS

Medicinal Value Of Marijuana Questioned

EDMONTON  -  Dr.  Steve  Chambers has no plans to help patients obtain 
medical marijuana, despite the fact that physicians will prescribe and 
distribute the drug under new federal rules.

Marijuana's  medical benefits have not been scientifically proven, and 
the  Edmonton  family  physician said the idea of dispensing it causes him 
grave concerns.

"I just would not be comfortable in dispensing at all," Chambers said. 
"There  would  be  safety issues in my office. We've had break-ins for 
morphine,  and  armed  robberies  even, just to steal the prescription 
blanks for triplicate prescriptions.

"So  if  we have a marked, labelled package that is obviously going to 
be  containing  30 grams of marijuana, I would imagine that would make that 
physician's office a likely target for illicit activity."

Health  Minister  Anne  McLellan this week announced an interim policy 
for  the  distribution of marijuana to Canadians who are authorized to 
use  it  to  treat  multiple sclerosis and other conditions. Dried pot 
from  a  Manitoba  lab  will  be  shipped  in  30-gram packages to the 
patient's physician, who will dispense it.

Chambers,   also   president   of  the  Alberta  Medical  Association, 
questioned  why  doctors  would  be put in charge of distribution when 
pharmacists dispense all other prescribed medications.

"And  the  idea  that  we  should be dispensing something that has the 
potential  for  harm,  I  don't  see  that  as  being something that a 
physician  would  want  to  do,"  he said. "As an ethical physician, I 
cannot  treat  this  drug differently than other unproven experimental 
drugs that I would not prescribe to a patient."

In  the  two  years  since  Health  Canada  first  approved the use of 
medicinal  pot,  several patients have asked Chambers to help them get 
access  to it. "In every case, I have declined to fill out application 
forms  to  apply  for  medicinal marijuana because I have not seen the 
evidence that it would help their condition."

Chambers  advised  AMA members by letter Thursday to consider "ethical 
issues,  legal liability and office security" when deciding whether or not 
to prescribe and distribute marijuana.

The  Canadian Medical Association also warns that doctors who dispense pot 
"do so at their professional and legal peril."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom