Pubdate: Sun, 05 Apr 2015 Source: Edmonton Sun (CN AB) Copyright: 2015 Canoe Limited Partnership. Contact: http://www.edmontonsun.com/letter-to-editor Website: http://www.edmontonsun.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/135 Author: Kevin Maimann Page: 3 GOING UNDERGROUND FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA Dr. Brian Knight, facility chief of anaesthesia at Misericordia Hospital, deals in chronic pain management and occasionally prescribes marijuana to patients who have struggled with conventional treatments. He said patients often have difficulty accessing the plant, even with a prescription, and are forced to go elsewhere. "Quite a few of them are accessing it illegally," Knight said. "Some, for example, have authorizations but either can't afford to buy it from one of the registered companies, or the registered company can't supply them." Knight admits he was hesitant to prescribe marijuana after Health Canada legalized it for medical purposes in 2001, and he still views it as a third-line treatment, but he said it has proven more effective than conventional medications for certain people. "For some patients it has worked extremely well," he said. Chris, who spoke to the Sun on condition of anonymity, has gone through three licensed suppliers (not including Aurora, which opened this year) and all have reneged on promises of discounts for people like himself with financial limitations. There are 50,000 patients across Canada registered for medical pot and fewer than 20 registered producers, and Chris has been told on several occasions there is not enough stock to supply his 90 grams a month. The 59-year-old has resorted to buying pot illegally when he's been shut out by the big producers. He said the street price is roughly the same, but it's impossible to know what he's getting. "I'm not in a criminal group or I don't have people to talk to, so I can't get good stuff. The couple times that I went to the street to buy it, I was getting crap," he said. Chris was first prescribed medical marijuana in 2014 to help alleviate a long list of ailments including pain caused by a chest injury and surgeries on his left shoulder and both knees. "I've got a health file that would scare a person," he said. He was on 360 mg of Oxyneo daily but since has been able to lower his dose to 100 mg since starting marijuana. He is trying to get off of the opiate, which leaves him constantly fatigued. "The term I guess they use for heroin addicted people, after they've taken a dose of heroin, is they nod off. And that's basically what was happening with me (on Oxyneo)," he said. "I was nodding off in mid-conversation with people, even. My eyes would close and I'd be asleep for maybe five minutes." Drug plans have covered medical marijuana on rare occasions in Canada - - injured soldiers are covered under Veterans Affairs. But while a 2014 Angus Reid poll showed 59 per cent of Canadians favour flat-out legalization of marijuana, the current government is intent on keeping it out of reach for many. Knight does not want his patients to break the law, but he knows their hands are sometimes tied. "A significant number of Canadians smoke marijuana recreationally, and most people would say that's OK. So who are we to then say you can't smoke it because you have pain?" Knight said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom