Pubdate: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 Source: Globe and Mail (Canada) Copyright: 2014 The Globe and Mail Company Contact: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168 Author: J. David Spence Page: A10 RX FOR POT PLANTS Re Wary Doctors Pressed Into Prescribing Medical Pot (March 24): There are good reasons why doctors are reluctant to prescribe marijuana. These include all the problems with prescribing whole plants as medicines, including the thousands of other chemicals delivered in addition to the intended active ingredient, variations in the potency of the active ingredient, making accurate dosing impossible, and issues of purity. There is no reason to think smoking marijuana is any safer than smoking tobacco. If used at all, marijuana plants should be consumed only orally (for example, in brownies). Evidence for the benefit of marijuana is limited; belief, no matter how strongly held, does not qualify as evidence. There are pure, properly tested drugs containing the active cannabinoid ingredients of marijuana, and those may be reasonable candidates for prescription. Prescribing whole plants for the purpose of smoking them cannot be regarded as a reasonable thing to ask of physicians. J. David Spence, MD, professor of neurology and clinical pharmacology, Robarts Research Institute - --- MAP posted-by: Matt