Pubdate: Sun, 18 Dec 2016
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Times Colonist
Contact:  http://www.timescolonist.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Author: George Le Masurier
Page: A10

GOOD POT REPORT STUMBLES ON MEDICAL ACCESS

The federal task on marijuana released a thorough report last week
that proposes to end Canada's 93-year prohibition on legal pot
production and consumption. Its 80 recommendations touched on the
important considerations and concerns for a well-regulated system, and
appeared to borrow from the experience of several U.S. states that are
several years ahead of us.

But the federal task force failed on one important point: the merger
of the medical and recreational marijuana markets.

Former Liberal minister Anne McLellan's task force devoted an entire
chapter to the issue of medical access. It noted that the Canadian
Medical Association and the Federation of Medical Regulatory
Authorities of Canada do not believe that doctors should write
prescriptions for access to marijuana. Their arguments are sound.

* There's no conclusive research or evidence about how or if marijuana
provides therapeutic benefits. Nor is there any conclusive data about
the risks of using marijuana for medicinal purposes.

* Physicians don't want to be responsible for prescribing marijuana in
the absence of reliable evidence. We want doctors to know what they
are prescribing and why.

* There are already other approved cannabinoid-based medicines on the
market.

* Allowing the medical-marijuana market to continue as a separate
system might delay or undermine funding for the clinical
drug-development research necessary to determine the drug's medical
effects.

Yet the task force recommended that legalization legislation "maintain
a separate medical access framework," at least at the outset, and to
reevaluate its necessity in five years.

The task force should have reviewed the multi-year experiences of
states south of the border and come to a different
recommendation.

Colorado, the first U.S. state to legalize use of marijuana, merged
its medical and recreation markets from the beginning. It simply
converted medical-marijuana retail outlets into recreational stores.

In the state of Washington, lawmakers fell under the spell of
lobbyists for the medical-marijuana industry and kept the two markets
separate when it initially legalized pot sales for recreational use in
2013.

But state lawmakers realized their mistake and closed all medical
marijuana stores in July of this year, merging the two markets.

People in both states using marijuana to manage pain and for other
medical purposes now have better access to legitimate and regulated
products as a result of merging the two markets.

It's well known that unregulated medical-marijuana sales across North
America were really a cover for recreational consumption. It was a way
around prohibition that everyone, from law enforcement to politicians,
was willing to accept on a nudge-nudge, wink-wink basis.

In the state of Washington, experts estimated that more than 90 per
cent of cannabis sold for ostensibly medical purposes was in fact
consumed recreationally.

Similarly, the Canadian federal task force heard strongly from
municipalities and law enforcement that medical-marijuana licences
have been routinely abused. The report states: "These stakeholders
relayed numerous examples of instances where licences issued under
[medical marijuana], notably those to designated producers, were
effectively used as a cover for illegal production and diversion to
the illicit market.

"We heard about the size and scale of some of these designated
producer operations and instances where law enforcement encountered
thousands of plants in residential properties. Representatives from
municipalities told us about the challenges these grow operations pose
to neighbours, landlords and communities because of fires, break-ins
and rental properties rendered uninhabitable due to mould or other
contaminants."

If there is sufficient legitimate demand for the low-hallucinogenic,
high-analgesic cannabis preferred by medical users, retail stores will
provide it.

And medical users will have the option of growing their
own.

The Wild West medical-marijuana market has served its purpose as a
bridge to legalization. Now it's not only unnecessary, but poses
professional risks for doctors and public safety concerns for law
enforcement. It's time for a new sheriff in town.

George Le Masurier is a journalist and a Comox Valley resident.
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MAP posted-by: Matt