Pubdate: Wed, 22 Jan 2014
Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright: 2014 Winnipeg Free Press
Contact: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/send_a_letter
Website: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502
Author: Larry Kusch
Page: A4

MDS FEAR PRESSURE TO OK POT USE

Use of medical marijuana expected to explode with rule
changes

THE organization that regulates physicians in Manitoba is worried
recent federal rule changes governing medical marijuana will place
more pressure on doctors to authorize its use.

The province's MDs have generally been resistant to helping patients
become registered to legally use a drug most see as having little or
no medical value. The number of Manitoba doctors known to be willing
to authorize the use of medical marijuana can be counted on the
fingers of one hand.

New rules that came into effect last year also allow - but do not
require - doctors to dispense cannabis, subject to provincial
approval. Manitoba allows physicians to dispense drugs in certain
limited situations.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba is concerned by the
regulatory change, saying the vast majority of physicians want nothing
to do with dispensing medical marijuana.

"It's a really big issue for the regulatory authorities," said Dr.
William Pope, the college's registrar.

Across Canada, more than 37,000 persons - including 443 in Manitoba -
are currently registered to possess cannabis for severe pain, muscle
spasms, nausea and other conditions.

Officials project the number could explode to as many as 450,000 by
2024 after Ottawa recently streamlined the application and approval
processes.

Under the new regime, applicants are no longer required to submit
their personal health information to Health Canada. The government has
also simplified the approval process for people with less debilitating
diseases and conditions.

New rules coming into effect April 1 will also prevent thousands of
Canadians - including hundreds in Manitoba - from continuing to grow
their own pot for medical use. They will be required to purchase from
federally licensed commercial growers. That has infuriated many
registered marijuana users who expect to have to pay $10 a gram
instead of the $1 to $2 it costs to grow it themselves, the Free Press
has reported.

Pope said the college is concerned the rule changes will cause more
patients to press doctors to authorize the use of medical marijuana.
It has advised physicians against doing so unless all other medical
remedies have been tried.

"As far as most of us are concerned, there is really no appropriate
prescribing," he said in an interview.

That position has caused some Manitobans to seek help out of province.
The Vancouver-based Medicinal Cannabis Resource Centre Inc. ( MCRCI)
will - for a $400 fee - provide a doctor to meet patients via Skype to
discuss how medical marijuana can help them and arrange for medical
authorization. The centre also assists patients in filling out the
necessary federal paperwork.

Terry Roycroft, founder and president of the centre, estimates his
organization has assisted as many as two dozen Manitobans in obtaining
federal permission to use medical marijuana. It has advised or
shepherded thousands of Canadians through the approval process.

Applicants must submit a diagnosis of a qualifying illness from their
primary caregiver, be it for cancer, severe arthritis, multiple
sclerosis or some other disease or condition.

"They're pre-diagnosed. All we're doing is counselling them on the
uses and the strains (of cannabis) that would work well with those
illnesses," Roycroft said. "Then we also support them legally with a
medical document that allows them to go to the new (cannabis)
producers that Health Canada is licensing so they can actually
purchase those strains."

MCRCI has gathered a group of 40 medical specialists and general
practitioners from across the country that act as a resource. Its
medical staff is also involved in clinical research on a
cannabis-based topical cream for patients with rheumatoid arthritis of
the hands.

Roycroft said the health benefits of cannabis are only beginning to be
tapped. In its dealings with clients, MCRCI outlines alternatives to
smoking a joint in obtaining the benefits of the cannabinoids in the
marijuana plant. Recent research, including work done in Canada under
federal permission, has seen the production of edible cannabis
products (which take the body longer to absorb but can provide longer
relief), mouth sprays, creams and vapours (in which cannabinoids are
inhaled but without the harmful smoke), he said.
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MAP posted-by: Matt