Pubdate: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 Source: Chronicle Herald (CN NS) Copyright: 2014 The Halifax Herald Limited Contact: http://www.herald.ns.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/180 DOCTORS FACE DILEMMA OVER MEDICAL MARIJUANA You can't blame doctors in Canada for feeling uncomfortable as Ottawa puts the responsibility squarely in their laps for authorizing the use of medical marijuana - a drug with relatively thin supporting evidence, scientifically. Courts in Canada have ruled criminal laws governing marijuana must have reasonable medical exemptions. A new federal regulatory regimen on the use of medical marijuana that took full effect in April has changed the dynamics of how Canadians must obtain approval for the legal use of marijuana medicinally. Formerly, patients had to first get authorizations from either one or two doctors - depending on the medical condition - then apply to Health Canada for final approval. If approved by Ottawa, those patients then could either obtain their medical marijuana from a government supplier or grow their own. Now, however, patients only need to get an authorization from a single doctor, which they then use to obtain medical marijuana from a properly-licensed private supplier. The approval of Health Canada, which officially discourages the use of marijuana, is no longer needed. The change has made doctors, in effect, the final gatekeepers for a drug they've long been concerned has been widely used for medical purposes in Canada without the solid, scientific evidence normally required for health-care drugs. That, in turn, has raised liability concerns among at least some physicians. That discomfort was on display last week, when delegates to the Canadian Medical Association's annual conference in Ottawa overwhelmingly backed a resolution that formally opposed Canadians smoking any plant material, including marijuana. Their reasoning was solid. Smoking marijuana, like tobacco, introduces dangerous chemicals, some cancer-causing, into the lungs. They couldn't, as health-care professionals, endorse such a practice. Medical marijuana has been found to help many people. But doctors are right that the reasons often aren't clear, due to the paucity of solid scientific evidence. There's clearly a dearth of properly controlled, long-term studies with sufficient numbers of enrollees to provide that base. One such study has been authorized by Health Canada this year, but with the vast number of conditions that opponents claim can be helped by medical marijuana, many more will be needed. The regulatory change has been partially held up as Ottawa appeals a federal court injunction issued in March that exempted some Canadians who previously had licences to grow their own medical marijuana. But everyone else seeking to use pot for medical use must abide by the new rules. No doctor has to authorize medical marijuana use. But physicians are understandably concerned they'll now, as the final gatekeeper, be coming under more pressure from Canadians, as well as authorized private suppliers, looking to buy and sell medical marijuana. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D