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. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D