Pubdate: Wed, 13 Sep 2017
Source: Standard, The (St. Catharines, CN ON)
Copyright: 2017 St. Catharines Standard
Contact: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/letters
Website: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/676
Author: Allan Benner
Page: A1

POT CLINICS COOL TO CHANGES

While the provincial government unveiled its plan for the sale of
marijuana, clinics specializing in providing patients with access to
the drug for medical uses aren't worried about the
competition.

Clinic staff, however, are concerned about the welfare of patients if
they choose to buy marijuana from one of the up to 60 provincial
cannabis stores announced Friday by the Ontario government, in
anticipation of the federal government's legalization of the drug on
July 1, 2018.

The province's plans include establishing a cannabis control board to
regulate the sale of marijuana for recreational use, similar to the
LCBO which regulates the sale of alcohol.

Although the proposed cannabis control stores would make it easier for
people to access marijuana, the clinics offer patients far more than
just a buzz.

"I feel that medical (marijuana) patients are probably going to be
left behind in the dark, and that's not a good thing," said Sarah
Havard, manager of the Cannabis Supply Co. clinic, 314 Lake St., St.
Catharines. "Our biggest concern is that control board staff won't
know what strain types would effect people a certain way. They could
very well give a person cannabis that would have an opposite affect to
what they're looking for. It's not necessarily dangerous but it could
be contrary to what they're trying to achieve," Havard said.

Cannabis Supply Co. has about 900 patients who use marijuana for a
variety of ailments such as back pain, cancer, epilepsy and insomnia,
to name a few.

"If a patient suffers from insomnia, and they buy a marijuana strain
that gives them energy, it's going to give them the opposite effect
and they're not going to be able to sleep all night. The lack of
education is the biggest concern for our patients and future
patients," Havard said.

In comparison, she said the clinic's physicians are there to ensure
patients get the support they need "and deserve."

Christina Brock, clinic supervisor at Bodystream Medical Marijuana
Services, on Queenston Street, had similar concerns about the
province's plan.

"Our demographic here is amazing really. We have patients up to the
age of 93 years old, and they're really just looking to help with
their pain," Brock said.

"Patients don't understand how really intricate it can be. They think
they just smoke it or take it and that's it, pain's gone. … There
really are so many different strains (of marijuana) that provide so
many different effects for each individual diagnosis and we provide
that education."

Clinics can also test patients to protect them against potentially
dangerous interactions with other prescription drugs they might be
taking, while also weeding out patients who are interested in
obtaining medical marijuana to get high, rather than for medical use.

"We process our patients very diligently," Brock said.

Marijuana can also be prescribed at the clinics containing high
concentrates of cannabinoids (CBD), which acts as a potent
anti-inflammatory, while levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are
reduced, eliminating the psychoactivity associated with the drug. It
allows patients to benefit from using the drug without becoming
intoxicated.

And unlike so-called medical marijuana dispensaries - many of whom
were shutdown by Niagara Regional Police earlier this year for
illegally selling the drug - the clinics do not directly supply
marijuana to patients and do not have any marijuana products on site.

Patients who use the clinics are either referred there by physicians,
or have medical documentation about the diagnosis for which they are
seeking medical marijuana.

After being assessed by physicians at the clinic, patients can be
prescribed medical marijuana, and register with a Health Canada
licenced producer of the drug. Patients can then order directly from
the approved marijuana producer, and the drug is shipped directly to
their home.

Despite concerns expressed by the clinics about the impact the
cannabis control board stores could have on patients, Brock University
associate professor Dan Malleck called the province's plan a "good
start."

"Having the current liquor control board infrastructure manage
distribution is also a good thing. Ontario having a plan in place can
provide a good example for other provinces," the expert on Canada's
drug and alcohol policies said in a media release.

Malleck, however, also described the plan as a cautious approach that
builds on the government's expertise in running its LCBO stores.

"Governments want to err on the side of caution when they're dealing
with something as historically socially fraught as cannabis," he said
in a media release. "Provincial governments are in a tough place
because they need to balance social fears about access to cannabis
with the problems of black market sales. And they also need to follow
legislation and recommendations initiated by the federal
government."

However, Malleck said the cautious approach to the sale of the drug
could allow the black market to continue.

"Without a good number of access points, it may be difficult to
undercut the so-called black market," he said.
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