Pubdate: Wed, 12 Nov 2014
Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU)
Copyright: 2014 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.montrealgazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274
Page: A24

CANNABIS CLINIC FILLS A NEED

The opening of Montreal's first medical marijuana clinic staffed by
doctors is a long overdue occurrence.

The therapeutic benefits of cannabis have long been extolled by
certain patients and practitioners, claims researchers are just
starting to explore. Thanks to a court decision, Canadians who meet
certain criteria have been able to obtain marijuana legally since
2001. And since April of 2014, Health Canada has been licensing pot
producers, issuing permits to patients and allowing doctors to
prescribe marijuana.

But proper oversight of patients who rely on pot to treat pain or
lessen symptoms is sorely lacking. About 12,000 Canadians have
registered with Health Canada's medical marijuana program and receive
their prescriptions from 22 registered producers through the mail.
Often the dosage is determined in consultation with the licensed
grower rather than a physician. Only 800 doctors have exercised the
new prescription powers, suggesting a reticence in the medical
community that is understandable given the questions that remain
unanswered. At the same time, there are patients who have been
self-medicating with illegally obtained marijuana who would be better
off with a proper prescription and supervision.

The Sante Cannabis clinic on Amherst St. is thus filling a void. It is
to be staffed by up to five doctors, including a family practitioner
with a quarter century of experience in palliative care. These
physicians will help patients who have a diagnosed medical need
determine the best strain of pot for their ailment, find the right
dosage and even learn alternative methods of consumption.

Quebec's medical establishment remains highly skeptical. The College
des Medecins expressed reservations about the pot clinic operating in
the absence of the protocols it has been drafting since spring. The
College raises legitimate concerns about the use of marijuana in
medicine, including a lack of clinical information on proper dosage,
which conditions it is best suited to treat, potential interactions
with other drugs and harmful side effects. These urgent questions will
require further study.

Now Health Minister Gaetan Barrette has panned pot's therapeutic use
as "charlatanism." Even Health Canada's website bears a disclaimer in
bold black lettering: "Dried marijuana is not an approved drug or
medicine in Canada. The Government of Canada does not endorse the use
of marijuana, but the courts have required reasonable access to a
legal source of marijuana when authorized by a physician."

While the College dithers, Barrette criticizes and Health Canada sends
mixed messages, thousands of patients are left in the lurch. The new
clinic may be winging it to a certain extent, but the doctors who run
it seem to have experience with patients who use marijuana and have
put protocols in place that they expect to mirror the College's
forthcoming directives. They are also stepping up to do what many
other physicians and the medical establishment won't.

Marijuana possession without a medical exemption remains outlawed in
Canada - in any amount - though enforcement is inconsistent. Almost
two dozen U.S. states have legalized marijuana for recreational use
while political debate rages here about legalization.

The arrival of Montreal's first medical marijuana clinic is a reminder
that many questions remain about the rightful place of cannabis in the
world of pharmacology. But as long as it's a legal therapy that many
patients are benefiting from, Sante Cannabis should be welcomed for
its willingness to fill a crying clinical need.
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MAP posted-by: Matt