Pubdate: Sat, 17 Dec 2011 Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC) Copyright: 2011 Times Colonist Contact: http://www2.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/letters.html Website: http://www.timescolonist.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481 Author: Thandi Fletcher, Postmedia News FEDS TO TIGHTEN MEDICAL POT RULES Canada's medical marijuana licensing system is vulnerable to abuse and needs to be tightened up, says the health minister after data emerged this week revealing a surge in possibly fraudulent applications. "We're aware that there are opportunities and risks of the system being abused, which is why we are working to tighten up the system," Steve Outhouse, a spokesman for Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, said Friday. Outhouse was speaking in response to an Ottawa Citizen series looking at medical marijuana licensing and use in Canada. The series was based on electronic data obtained from Health Canada through the Access to Information Act. The figures showed, for example, that between 2008 and 2010 applications to Health Canada for medical marijuana based on severe arthritis claims jumped 2,400 per cent. There are two main changes Aglukkaq has proposed to prevent exploitation of the government's Marihuana Medical Access Regulations, said Outhouse. They include better educating doctors on how to prescribe the drug and eliminating licences for patients to grow their own, he said. "We want to be able to get more information out to doctors - because often doctors don't have all the information they need to make an informed decision as to whether or not to prescribe," said Outhouse. Outhouse said the health minister is concerned about the safety risks involved with allowing people to grow pot in their home. He said it's also difficult to regulate. The Canadian Medical Association has said the proposals would put even greater pressure on doctors to control access to a largely untested and unregulated substance. The new regulations are expected to be finalized in 2012. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.