Pubdate: Fri, 04 Dec 2015
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2015 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Mike Hager
Page: S3

ARTHRITIS SOCIETY PRESCRIBES NEW GUIDELINES FOR MEDICAL POT

Patients, cannabis growers, doctors meet to discuss new drug
regime

Lacking any clear direction from Ottawa, the Arthritis Society has put
together a diverse group that includes medical cannabis researchers,
patient advocates, marijuana producers and bureaucrats to identify
research priorities for the drug and create prescription guidelines
for doctors.

The national charity gathered a cannabis roundtable in Vancouver on
Thursday for two days of discussions. It plans to produce a report in
the new year, identifying areas where more research could benefit
patients, while answering important questions from doctors - such as
appropriate dosage levels, how cannabis should be administered and
which patients could benefit the most.

"People have been able to access this [drug legally] for 15 years and
there is a vacuum in terms of the knowledge - we now need to catch
up," said Joanne Simons, the chief mission officer at the Arthritis
Society. "We've taken the step and are hoping that other people will
join us, and we'll just create a much better body of evidence than
we've had over the past 15 years."

Last year, Health Canada overhauled its system of small licensed home
growers supplying themselves and other patients in favour of
commercial-scale producers that mail the drug directly to prescription
holders.

The Canadian Medical Association has criticized the new regime because
doctors have been forced to assess what type of treatment their
patient needs and prescribe set dosages, while they only had to verify
that a patient claimed the drug helped them under the old system.

Meanwhile, a dearth of clinical evidence on the efficacy of the
plant's touted benefits means many physicians simply don't know enough
about cannabis to recommend it to patients, while Health Canada has
not approved cannabis as a medicine.

"The Ministry of Health has to understand that we have a gap right now
and how can we work together as a community to ensure that the
physicians across country are getting access to the validation of
research that they need," said Ms. Simons, whose organization states
there are more than 4.6 million Canadians living with the condition.

The society first recognized pot's potential benefits when it found
two-thirds of the patients registered under the old medical marijuana
regime were listed as suffering from arthritis, Ms. Simons said. The
charity now works with several large growers licensed under the new
federal system and has found that about half of their patients
complain of arthritis, she added.

The federal Liberal government has promised to legalize marijuana,
though it has yet to say what that system will look like or whether it
will impact the medical pot system.

Jonathan Zaid, head of the patient advocacy group Canadians for Fair
Access to Medical Marijuana, said the push for legalization of
recreational pot sales promised by the Liberals should not overshadow
the need for more research to help the drug's medicinal users.
"Patients could be forgotten," he said.
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