Pubdate: Wed, 31 Oct 2012
Source: Intelligencer, The (CN ON)
Copyright: 2012, Osprey Media Group Inc.
Contact: http://www.intelligencer.ca/feedback1/LetterToEditor.aspx
Website: http://www.intelligencer.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2332
Author: Jason Miller

PHYSICIAN FIGHTING A 'FLAWED' SYSTEM

Lawyer says appeal a game changer

A contentious medical marijuana program is flawed, a Toronto lawyer
and city physician agree while differing greatly on the exact nature
of its problems.

Paul Lewin, a Toronto lawyer awaiting a Court of Appeal decision that
could change Canada's medical marijuana program, says the program is a
cloud of smoke scaring away doctors and denying access to legitimate
patients.

Belleville physician, William Bates, agreed medical marijuana is
receiving waning support from his peers, noting he won't even broach
marijuana use for his patients once inhalation is an option.

"I think if it was oral the doctors would be more in favour of it,"
Bates said. "We're against the inhalation of smoke of any kind."

Bates has only signed forms for one patient, which was strictly for
oral use. He's also wary of the potential abuse of the drug by patients.

"I personally find that most people using medical marijuana aren't
using it for the right purpose," he said, as another reason support
for the drug is unpopular amongst doctors.

Doctors are leaning toward promoting alternatives other than marijuana
and its dubious impact on patients seeking to soothe debilitating
chronic pain, he said.

"You treat the cause," he said. "I don't believe in covering up
pain."

Bates contends Marihuana Medical Access Regulations (MMAR) conjure
loopholes making it susceptible to abuse.

"There is a lot of room for abuse and that's a weakness," he said.
"It's going to be tough to fix because there has been so much abuse of
it as a recreational thing."

Lewin said the approach of physicians, like Bates, has to soften for
the program to improve.

The case of Dr. Rob Kamermans, a Coe Hill physician who faces fraud
charges linked to the "flawed" program, could also pose policy
changing implications, says Lewin, counsel representing Toronto
marijuana activist Matthew Mernagh.

Without knowing the specifics of the case against Kamermans, now
before Belleville court, Lewin still lauded his willingness to grant
patients access to the program, placing him among a dwindling group of
physicians in support of the Health Canada setup.

"The system's a disaster," he said. "Kamermans was addressing the big
problem in Mernagh (case), that doctors are afraid to sign these forms."

"Kamermans was doing a service by making the system work." Lewin said
this reluctance by doctors to sign creates loopholes that can benefit
those motivated by greed ... trying to take advantage of patients.

"The only reason why it lends itself to abuse is because so few
doctors will sign," he said. "If doctors didn't have so many hangups
about medical marijuana, there wouldn't be a market for charging for
these licences."

Mernagh reportedly used the drug to treat his symptoms from
fibromyalgia scoliosis and seizures. MMAR requires any patient seeking
access to medical marijuana to obtain a signed declaration from a physician.

He launched a constitutional challenge last year arguing federal
regulations on medical marijuana constitute an unfair barrier for sick
people.

Judge Taliano agreed there was "overwhelming refusal" by physicians to
sign the declaration.

The government appealed the decision in May, but the Ontario Court of
Appeal has yet to render the precedent-setting decision. Not much has
changed on the ground since then, however.

"All across the country, the Crown and police are charging ahead
running forward with charges even when there is good evidence that it
might be used for medical reasons," Lewin said.

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[sidebar]

Fact box

* Rob Kamermans, 66, and his coaccused wife, Mary Kamermans, 64,
charged in August and released on strict conditions.

* The couple was charged in relation to fraudulent endorsement of
Health Canada's medicinal marijuana documents in Ontario, Nova Scotia,
New Brunswick, Quebec and British Columbia, between January 2011 and
April 2012, police claim.

* Charges against Dr. Kamermans include: three counts of fraud, four
counts of uttering forged documents, possession of property obtained
and laundering proceeds of crime.
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