MDS voice worries over medical marijuana changes
Health Canada looking to make doctors sole gatekeepers to drug, CMA head says
OTTAWA — The federal government’s proposed changes to the medical marijuana program would leave Canada’s doctors in a lurch, dumping the responsibility for a substance with very little clinical evidence onto them, says the head of the Canadian Medical Association.
Health Canada announced Sunday that it plans to change the way that people access medical marijuana, taking itself out of the production and distribution of the substance and opening up the commercial market to companies that meet “strict security requirements.”
The concern is that physicians are now going to be asked to be the sole gatekeepers to the drug, Dr. Anna Reid, the president of the Canadian Medical Association, told Postmedia News.
“There haven’t been any studies saying these are the risks versus the benefits. And we know there are risks. There are risks of psychosis. There are risks of problems with your lungs because you smoke it,” Reid said.
“We also know anecdotally that there are perceived benefits in terms of nausea and pain. But we don’t know what the balance is.”
According to Health Can- ada, there are more than 26,000 people in the Marihuana Medical Access Program. There were only 477 enrolled in the program in 2002.
The changes announced Sunday aim to treat marijuana like any other narcotic used for medical purposes — patients can purchase the appropriate amount from a licensed vendor as long as they have a signed medical document, similar to a prescription, from a health care practitioner.
It would also mean produc- tion can no longer take place in private homes, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said in a news conference in Vancouver.
“Current medical marijuana regulations have left the system open to abuse,” she said in a statement.
“We have heard real concerns from law enforcement, fire officials, and municipalities about how people are hiding behind these rules to conduct illegal activity, and putting health and safety of Canadians at risk. These changes will make it far more difficult for people to game the system.”
The new system would also cut red tape, striking the “right balance” between patient access and public safety, Aglukkaq said.
Physicians are acutely aware that there aren’t enough adequate ways to treat chronic pain, but would like to see more research done on medical marijuana, Reid said.
“If something goes wrong, we’re the ones responsible and our number one concern as physicians is for the safety of our patients,” Reid said.
The Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries said in a statement Sunday that they were worried about the quality of patient care under the proposed regulations.
“CAMCD remains concerned that patients will continue facing barriers to access,” president Rade Kovacevic said.
“Affordability remains unaddressed, medical associations remain reluctant to endorse the government program, and there are no provisions for non-smoking alternatives such as baked goods and tinctures.”