Pubdate: Thu, 03 Apr 2014
Source: Metro (Edmonton, CN AB)
Copyright: 2014 Metro Canada
Contact:  http://www.metronews.ca/Edmonton
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4475
Authors: Leah Germain & Jeremy Nolais

POT-FRIENDLY DOCS IN SHORT SUPPLY

Federal reforms spark new rules for province's physicians

Patients and experts fear prospective Alberta medicinal-marijuana
users will have an impossible time acquiring a prescription as new
rules turn physicians into the "gatekeepers" of the drug.

The concerns stem from new regulations implemented by Health Canada on
April 1, which have put the onus on doctors across the country to
determine who can turn to commercial growers to treat their ailments
with cannabis.

Previously Health Canada had to approve applications to access the
drug.

Numerous pro-marijuana advocates told Metro there were already very
few doctors in Alberta willing to back the bud when compared with
other provinces like B.C.

Fonda Betts, chief operation officer of the GreenLeaf Medical Clinic
in Abbotsford, B.C., said many doctors are hesitant to prescribe
marijuana because it comes with a huge learning curve.

"It's a challenge for physicians who don't understand the cannabis
landscape," she said.

"The medical-marijuana industry is so fast moving, you have to keep
your finger on the pulse."

Meeting with patients via webcam, GreenLeaf has given prescriptions to
a number of Albertans who can't find a doctor locally, Betts said.

After federal reforms took effect this week, the College of Physicians
and Surgeons of Alberta was prompted to introduce new pre-prescription
regulations. Among the requirements, physicians must now provide
evidence they have professional training specific to the use of
marijuana before providing the drug.

College spokesperson Kelly Eby was quick to point out that Health
Canada has not approved the use of marijuana but was required by the
courts to provide "reasonable access."

Eby said the new rules turn the college's members into "gatekeepers"
of the drug, thus prompting the new requirements.

"We've heard that there are concerns from (physicians) about their new
  role," she said.

Eby said the number of marijuana-friendly doctors in Alberta is not
actively tracked. But numerous users interviewed indicated anecdotally
that bud-friendly physicians are few and far between.

Calgary patient Lisa Kirkman said the new rules will likely drive the
health community even further away from accepting marijuana as a
viable treatment option.

"This is the one province where everybody has to leave the province to
go find =C2=85 a cannabinoid specialist," she said. "The science doesn't
lie.... What (college members) are basically saying is, 'We are the
worst doctors in all of Canada.'"
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MAP posted-by: Matt