Pubdate: Sat, 10 Dec 2011
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2011 The Vancouver Sun
Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Glen McGregor

ARTHRITIS CLAIMS UP IN BID TO SPEED APPLICATIONS

Advocates Say It's Easier to Get a Doctor to Sign a Prescription For
Pot Intended to Treat Sore Joints

The federal government has seen a staggering increase in the number of 
requests for medical marijuana authorizations from applicants who 
claim they have severe arthritis in order to legally obtain the drug.

Applications to Health Canada based on severe arthritis claims jumped 
2,400 per cent between 2008 and 2010, far outstripping the number of 
claims for cancer, HIV/AIDS and other serious diseases, a Citizen 
analysis has found.

The spike in arthritis claims was part of an overall rise in 
applications over the past three years, as more private clinics 
specializing in marijuana began referring patients to pot-friendly 
doctors willing to sign their forms.

But unless there has been an enormous, undocumented surge in arthritis 
rates in Canada over the past three years, the data suggests that 
patients or their doctors may be bending the government's rules to 
obtain medical marijuana more easily.

Arthritis was listed as the reason for 40 per cent of all applications 
under the Marijuana Medical Access Regulations (MMAR) received so far 
in 2011. That was double the rate seen in 2008, according to 
electronic records released to the Citizen under the Access to Information Act.

Severe arthritis is one of the Category 1 illnesses that require 
patients to obtain the signature of just a single doctor under Health 
Canada rules. Cancer, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS infections and 
spinal cord injuries and disease and are also listed in Category 1, 
but often have more obvious visible symptoms than arthritis.

Patients with other Category 2 illnesses such as hepatitis, glaucoma 
or ulcerative colitis must go through the additional step of getting a 
specialist to sign their applications, a process that can take many 
months and does not always succeed.

Some marijuana advocates believe that patients are asking doctors to 
sign off on the faster Category 1 condition of severe arthritis to 
speed their applications.

"I think a lot of people are applying under arthritis even if they may 
have a different condition," says Scott Gilbert, who runs the Hamilton 
Medical Marijuana Centre. "They are going with whatever is the easier 
one to get approved on."

Although a patient might otherwise qualify for authorization based on 
a Category 2 illness such as fibromyalgia or Crohn's disease, a savvy 
doctor familiar with the MMAR program might ask if the patient also 
has arthritis, too.

Health Canada is conducting a review of MMAR and plans to overhaul the 
way the program works, in part by transferring more authority to doctors.

The department says it is required to approve applications that have 
been signed by a doctor and meet the conditions of the MMAR. It has 
noticed the sharp increase in marijuana applications but doesn't know 
why, exactly, the numbers are rising so sharply.

"Increasing awareness of the program among patient groups and treating 
physicians is likely a key contributing factor," said Health Canada 
spokesman Gary Holub in an email.

Patients often complain that the refusal of doctors to approve their 
applications is the greatest obstacle to entering the program. But the 
surging number of applications suggest they are finding other ways to 
get approved with the rules.

Many privately run clinics are sprouting up across the country, with 
in-house physicians to sign the 33-page Health Canada application form 
or provide referrals to doctors who are willing.

The Do No Harm Clinic in Kelowna, for example, has helped process 
applications for more than 500 patients. It serves patients who have 
been unable to find a doctor to sign their forms and will provide a 
physician to consult with patients anywhere in the country over the Internet.

A doctor who works at the clinic agreed to speak to Postmedia about 
his practice on the condition he not be named, as he does not want to 
deluged with requests from potential patients. His identify has been confirmed.

"Medical marijuana is not a prescription," he said. "I don't have to 
touch the patient to see they have cancer."

But he says he will not list severe arthritis or other illness on the 
application unless the patient can produce documentation of the 
disease provided by a specialist.

He acknowledged, however, that some other Canadian marijuana clinics 
are moving to what he calls the California model, where a patient 
walks in off the street and gets a doctor to sign the forms on the spot.

"That kind of thing goes on," he says, but he notes patients can do 
the same thing if they present with back pain to get a prescription 
for Oxycodone, a powerful and addictive pharmaceutical painkiller.

The doctor volunteers his services but the clinic charges $400 to help 
patients complete the Health Canada application form.

Compassion clubs sell marijuana to sick people without Health Canada 
approval, making them vulnerable to arrest and prosecution. There have 
been raids of clubs in Toronto and Montreal, possibly forcing some 
medical marijuana users to turn to Health Canada to buy pot legally.

An increasing number of private clinics and services are working 
within the system to arrange approval under Health Canada's rules - 
some charging processing fees.

For $450 plus tax, the Medical Cannabis Resource Centre in downtown 
Vancouver will hook up a patient with a doctor on Skype to confirm 
identity. Like the Do No Harm Clinic, the centre still requires a 
statement of diagnosis of a pre-existing condition from another doctor.

These clinics are trying to work around the problems in Health 
Canada's rules to get marijuana to patients who need it, says Rielle 
Capler of the Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis Dispenseries.

"Whether they're entrepreneurs or well-meaning physicians, they're 
stepping in to fill these gaps," she said.
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MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.