Pubdate: Thu, 13 Jun 2013
Source: Prince George Citizen (CN BC)
Copyright: 2013 Prince George Citizen
Contact:  http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/350
Author: Christine Hinzmann

SENIOR IN HUFF VOWS TO PUFF

A Prince George man is threatening to take the law into his own hands 
after the federal government announced new regulations this week that 
will change the way Canadians access marijuana for medical purposes.

Under the new rules, people will no longer be able to grow marijuana 
in their homes for their own medical use and the government will no 
longer produce or distribute medical pot.

"I will buy it illegally," said the local senior citizen who uses 
medicinal marijuana every day to cope with the long-term effects of 
his cancer treatment. "I'm next to death anyway, so what are they 
going to do? Throw me in jail?"

Tom (not his real name), 64, legally grows pot for his personal 
medical use as a sleep aid after enduring 18 months of cancer 
treatments for squamous cell carninoma or throat cancer.

Tom's odds of surviving for three years after diagnosis was 30 per 
cent and he's on year four, he said. He gives a lot of the credit to 
his ability to use medical marijuana to soothe what ails him.

"This will be a constitutional issue," said Tom. "It's also going to 
be a political issue."

Tom said he believes this will bring on a lot of trouble because 
people grow different strains of marijuana for their different needs 
and people won't be able to get what they need.

"It took me almost two years to perfect the dosage that I take," he 
said. "By taking this away from us, the government is screwing us. I 
knew it was coming but I can't believe the stupidity of it."

Health Canada said since the medical marijuana program was introduced 
in 2001, it has expanded to 30,000 people from the original 500 
authorized to use the product.

"This rapid increase has had unintended consequences for public 
health, safety and security as a result of allowing individuals to 
produce marijuana in their homes," the department said in a news release.

"Under the new regulations, production will no longer take place in 
homes and municipal zoning laws will need to be respected, which will 
further enhance public safety."

The proposed rules will allow patients to buy prescribed amounts only 
from licensed growers who will be required to meet strict conditions.

In previous versions of the regulations, pharmacies were to 
distribute the product just like other medications, provoking concern 
from pharmacists, who expressed concerns about dispensing a product 
without sufficient research. They also cited security concerns.

The final version removes the pharmacists from the loop, leaving 
patients to rely on mail order for their medical marijuana.

"While the courts have said that there must be reasonable access to a 
legal source of marijuana for medical purposes, we believe that this 
must be done in a controlled fashion in order to protect public 
safety," minister Leona Aglukkaq said in a statement.

"These changes will strengthen the safety of Canadian communities 
while making sure patients can access what they need to treat serious 
illnesses."

Physicians and pharmacists alike questioned the regulatory changes, 
saying there is little evidence that medical marijuana is either 
effective or safe.

The umbrella group representing the country's colleges of physicians 
and surgeons said the changes won't protect people.

"We believe that the new federal medical marijuana regulations put 
patients and the general public at risk," Dr. Rocco Gerace, president 
of the Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of Canada, said 
in a statement.

"Physicians should not be asked to prescribe or dispense substances 
or treatments for which there is little or no evidence of clinical 
efficacy or safety."

In December, the president of the Canadian Medical Association, Dr. 
Anna Reid, described the proposed marijuana rules as "akin to asking 
doctors to write prescriptions while blindfolded."

"Not only does prescribing drugs that haven't been clinically tested 
fly in the face of medical training and ethics, but marijuana's 
potential benefits and adverse effects have not been rigorously tested."

- - with files from The Canadian Press

For more on Tom's story and how the local senior uses medical 
marijuana to ease the after-affects of his cancer treatment, see the 
Seniors page in Tuesday's Citizen.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom