Pubdate: Mon, 27 Jun 2016
Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 2016 Postmedia Network
Contact:  http://www.calgaryherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66
Author: Salmaan Farooqui
Page: A6

ISSUING PROPER DOSE KEY TO MEDICAL POT

Pharmacy manager says finding that sweet spot is biggest challenge
now

A Saskatoon pharmacy manager told a Calgary conference on Sunday that
while the benefits of medical marijuana are clear, many unknowns still
exist with how the drug should be used.

Amy Wiebe, a pharmacy manager at the Saskatoon City Hospital, admitted
she had her own biases about medical marijuana in the past.

"There's so much stigma attached to it, and I had a pretty big bias
against it," Wiebe said.

"But the more I learned, the more I was like, 'OK, maybe there is
something to this.'"

Speaking at the Canadian Pharmacists Association in Calgary, Wiebe
stressed that while the benefits are clear, there are still many
aspects of treatment that have to be fine-tuned.

Her speech, which called marijuana a "moving target," focused on how
marijuana and its relationship to the political and medical landscape
is changing all at once.

In 2001 there were 500 medical marijuana users. Wiebe said some
estimates reveal there are now about 70,000 users. As for the drug,
Wiebe said its potency has also changed over the decades.

In the 1960s, there was a one to two per cent potency of THC - the
main component of marijuana that causes its euphoric effects - whereas
now there are strains available with up to 25 per cent potency.

Wiebe says the challenge physicians face is to find the sweet spot of
how large prescription doses should be.

Her mantra on that is to "start slow, go slow," using low doses at
first and increasing incrementally to find an effective dosage.

"We know that sometimes there's a fine line between what's going to
work and be effective, versus what's going to cause somebody to have
negative effects that'll outweigh the benefits."

Luckily, though, Wiebe said most of those negative effects - most
commonly anxiety - are short-term problems that wear off as patients
come down from the drug.
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MAP posted-by: Matt