Pubdate: Wed, 23 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
Page: A10

Medical Marijuana

EVIDENCE, PLEASE

Medical marijuana's eloquent advocates make persistent and powerful 
claims for its therapeutic value. It is often portrayed as benign and 
risk-free. But the challenge for doctors is that, unlike most other 
drugs, there is a paucity of scientific evidence to support its 
status as a medicine, describe its benefits, itemize its side effects 
and recommend the right dosage.Marijuana simply hasn't been tested to 
the same degree as most other pharmaceuticals. Even doctors who want 
to prescribe it don't know as much as they should.

As a medicine, cannabis needs more study - so that doctors who 
prescribe it can feel they are doing so based on scientific evidence, 
not anecdote. It's understandable that people who've found relief in 
marijuana use, or who simply want to enjoy its time-honoured 
recreational effects without threat of prosecution, are impatient 
with the go-slow approach of research. But it never makes sense to 
dismiss scientific caution. And there is one area of therapeutic use 
where a more thoughtful approach to risk assessment is needed.

Canadian doctors are increasingly being asked by parents to prescribe 
marijuana to children. The Canadian Pediatric Society (CPS) has now 
addressed this issue in a policy statement that underlines how little 
is known about a drug that seems to be getting a free pass as an 
all-purpose remedy of choice.

The CPS acknowledges the historic use of marijuana to treat a 
condition known as refractory epilepsy. But the evidence to back up 
anecdotal reports of its positive effects is sparse. Medications 
derived from cannabis appear to reduce pain and spasticity in adults 
with multiple sclerosis, but it's not clear whether children would 
benefit - the studies have not been done.

General use of marijuana as a children's pain reliever is even more 
problematic. The benefits have not been properly studied, and there 
may be adverse effects - from delayed motor skills to cognitive 
impairment. Children who take marijuana therapeutically may also be 
at greater risk of dependence than adults. And in what situations, if 
any, should cannabis be smoked by children?

Medical marijuana may be an excellent treatment for many conditions. 
But Big Pharma doesn't get to make unfounded claims about new 
pharmaceuticals, and neither should weed. Medicine is an evidence-based science.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom