Pubdate: Sat, 14 Jun 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

SUPPLIERS TOLD TO KEEP TABS ON MDS WHO PRESCRIBE POT

The federal Health Department wants medical marijuana suppliers to
provide provincial authorities with information on the doctors who
prescribe the substance.

And they want them to issue semi-annual reports on the physicians who
prescribe marijuana for their patients.

The reports would include the doctor's name and address, how much of
the substance was prescribed and for how long. The proposed
regulations were published Friday by the federal government.

The provinces and territories "have identified the need to provide
better education and guidance for and monitoring of their members who
provide medical documents to their patients to support their access to
marijuana for medical purposes," the notice states.

It says that better monitoring of health-care practitioners who
provide their patients with the substance "would help support the
integrity" of the new medical marijuana system.

"We have consulted with health-care licensing bodies who expressed a
need for the data on how doctors and nurses are authorizing marijuana
to their patients and in which quantities," Health Minister Rona
Ambrose said in a statement. "The proposed regulatory amendments will
further strengthen public health and safety by ensuring appropriate
oversight and monitoring."

On April 1, Health Canada radically altered the rules for medical
marijuana, opening its production up to the commercial sector,
expanding it from a cottage industry of thousands of loosely regulated
growers.

As of late last month, the department had received 858 applications
from a variety of firms wanting to be medical marijuana suppliers.

On Friday, the department said in a statement that it does not endorse
marijuana use, but the courts have required reasonable access to it
for medical purposes.

"Marijuana is not an approved drug or medicine in Canada and has not
gone through the necessary rigorous scientific trials for efficacy or
safety," it said.
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MAP posted-by: Matt