Pubdate: Sat, 17 Dec 2011 Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB) Copyright: 2011 The Edmonton Journal Contact: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/opinion/letters/letters-to-the-editor.html Website: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134 Author: Thandi Fletcher, with files from Sharon Kirkey, Postmedia News OTTAWA TO TIGHTEN RULES ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA 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," said Steve Outhouse, a spokesman for Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, on Friday. Outhouse was speaking in response to a Postmedia series looking at medical marijuana licensing and use in Canada. The series was based on electronic data the Citizen 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 marijuana medical access regulations, said Outhouse. They include better educating doctors on how to prescribe medical marijuana and eliminating the right of patients to be granted a licence to grow in their homes, 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. "The other thing - we're proposing is that people wouldn't grow in homes. That it would be available through a centralized location, whatever company would grow it, to treat it as much as any other drug." Outhouse said the health minister is concerned about the safety risks involved with allowing people to grow marijuana plants in their home. He said it's also difficult to regulate plant growth in homes, and there is a risk of people growing more marijuana than permitted. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.