T
The420Guy
Guest
Canada has become the first country in the world to allow people in
medical need to possess marijuana, but becoming a government-sanctioned
pot-smoker will not be easy.
First, you have to be very sick or close to dying. Second, you have to have
doctors vouch that all other
remedies to fight the pain have failed while only cannabis -- the herb
Queen Victoria inhaled to relieve
menstrual cramps -- makes a difference. Third, you have to find a reliable
source. And until Health
Canada's supply is harvested from a northern Manitoba mine shaft, the
options are tricky.
The new regulation, which took effect yesterday, is drawing international
attention as a daring move. Yet
within the country, doctors complain that they will bear the brunt of
deciding who should be allowed to use
the drug while marijuana activists criticize a system that gives access
only to society's sickest.
"We're really unhappy. This is the first place in the world where this is
being allowed to happen and we're
the ones that have to take the responsibility for it," said Peter Barrett,
president of the Canadian Medical
Association.
"We're being asked to be the gatekeepers for a product that hasn't gone
through any rigorous testing."
Health Canada officials, who were swamped with inquiries yesterday, said
they realize they are in a "unique
situation." But court decisions giving sick people the right to possess and
use marijuana over the past four
years have forced the government to take action. As a result, Health Canada
says it is trying to make the
drug available "on compassionate grounds."
Until yesterday, anyone hoping to use marijuana for medical purposes had to
apply for a special exemption
from prosecution under the law. To date, about 300 people have received
exemptions. Now those applicants
fall under the new regulations.
But marijuana activist Steve Van de Kemp says the new rules are a small
step and that red tape will
prevent too many sick people from legally using the drug. "Truthfully, the
solution to this whole mess is they
have to legalize marijuana," he said. Mr. Van de Kemp said that because of
the new rules, he will have to
reapply within six months for his exemption status that he first got last
summer. Because he suffers from
depression and anxiety, he needs the signatures of two specialists to make
his pot-smoking legal.
People with a terminal disease (such as AIDS or cancer) need the signature
of only one doctor.
Mr. Van de Kemp suspects he'll have trouble landing his two signatures
since doctors worry about
certifying marijuana use.
"You may as well get me a Super 7 ticket for Friday," he said.
Dr. Barrett said most physicians are reluctant to participate in the
government's medical-marijuana program.
They worry about recommending an untested drug without knowing the full
side effects, proper dosages or
how it might interact with other drugs.
He also predicted the new regulation will strain doctor and patient
relationships: "Everyone who wants
marijuana for recreational use will be on the doorstep and then we'll be
the ones who have to say no."
The Canadian Medical Association opposes issuing certificates for patients
to smoke marijuana before
Health Canada receives results from clinical trials in Toronto and Montreal
that will evaluate marijuana's
potential as a pain reliever.
Patients are meanwhile left to navigate an underground system of
connections to procure marijuana.
Yesterday on Toronto's Queen Street West, for example, one pharmacist said
he hadn't the faintest idea
how to get pot. A walk-in clinic receptionist said the doctor was far too
busy to entertain such questions.
Only the owner of a nearby marijuana-paraphernalia store had a suggestion:
Get in touch with your local
"compassion club."
Compassion clubs are networks that have long supplied cannabis to people in
medical need at prices below
street value. Mr. Van de Kemp, who heads the 50-member Ontario Compassion
Club, said the organization
also gets doctors' recommendations before it dispenses.
But even the clubs must rely on illicit drug sources and until Health
Canada's supply is ready for harvest,
product from the street makes doctors nervous. As well, there is some
concern that the photo identity cards
patients receive in order to possess, and in some cases, grow their own
marijuana, will become big hits with
counterfeiters.
Under the new regulations, medical marijuana users can grow their own
supply, designate someone else to
grow it for them, or wait until Health Canada has its product available.
Applications for protection from prosecution under the new rules will be
available from Health Canada
through the Internet.
In the meantime, patients will have to jump through the bureaucratic gaps
between supply and demand.
Newshawk: Carey Ker
Pubdate: July 31, 2001
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Website: The Globe and Mail: Canadian, World, Politics and Business News & Analysis
Contact: letters@globeandmail.ca
Copyright: 2001, The Globe and Mail Company
Forum: https://forums.theglobeandmail.com/
Author: COLIN FREEZE AND CAROLYN ABRAHAM
medical need to possess marijuana, but becoming a government-sanctioned
pot-smoker will not be easy.
First, you have to be very sick or close to dying. Second, you have to have
doctors vouch that all other
remedies to fight the pain have failed while only cannabis -- the herb
Queen Victoria inhaled to relieve
menstrual cramps -- makes a difference. Third, you have to find a reliable
source. And until Health
Canada's supply is harvested from a northern Manitoba mine shaft, the
options are tricky.
The new regulation, which took effect yesterday, is drawing international
attention as a daring move. Yet
within the country, doctors complain that they will bear the brunt of
deciding who should be allowed to use
the drug while marijuana activists criticize a system that gives access
only to society's sickest.
"We're really unhappy. This is the first place in the world where this is
being allowed to happen and we're
the ones that have to take the responsibility for it," said Peter Barrett,
president of the Canadian Medical
Association.
"We're being asked to be the gatekeepers for a product that hasn't gone
through any rigorous testing."
Health Canada officials, who were swamped with inquiries yesterday, said
they realize they are in a "unique
situation." But court decisions giving sick people the right to possess and
use marijuana over the past four
years have forced the government to take action. As a result, Health Canada
says it is trying to make the
drug available "on compassionate grounds."
Until yesterday, anyone hoping to use marijuana for medical purposes had to
apply for a special exemption
from prosecution under the law. To date, about 300 people have received
exemptions. Now those applicants
fall under the new regulations.
But marijuana activist Steve Van de Kemp says the new rules are a small
step and that red tape will
prevent too many sick people from legally using the drug. "Truthfully, the
solution to this whole mess is they
have to legalize marijuana," he said. Mr. Van de Kemp said that because of
the new rules, he will have to
reapply within six months for his exemption status that he first got last
summer. Because he suffers from
depression and anxiety, he needs the signatures of two specialists to make
his pot-smoking legal.
People with a terminal disease (such as AIDS or cancer) need the signature
of only one doctor.
Mr. Van de Kemp suspects he'll have trouble landing his two signatures
since doctors worry about
certifying marijuana use.
"You may as well get me a Super 7 ticket for Friday," he said.
Dr. Barrett said most physicians are reluctant to participate in the
government's medical-marijuana program.
They worry about recommending an untested drug without knowing the full
side effects, proper dosages or
how it might interact with other drugs.
He also predicted the new regulation will strain doctor and patient
relationships: "Everyone who wants
marijuana for recreational use will be on the doorstep and then we'll be
the ones who have to say no."
The Canadian Medical Association opposes issuing certificates for patients
to smoke marijuana before
Health Canada receives results from clinical trials in Toronto and Montreal
that will evaluate marijuana's
potential as a pain reliever.
Patients are meanwhile left to navigate an underground system of
connections to procure marijuana.
Yesterday on Toronto's Queen Street West, for example, one pharmacist said
he hadn't the faintest idea
how to get pot. A walk-in clinic receptionist said the doctor was far too
busy to entertain such questions.
Only the owner of a nearby marijuana-paraphernalia store had a suggestion:
Get in touch with your local
"compassion club."
Compassion clubs are networks that have long supplied cannabis to people in
medical need at prices below
street value. Mr. Van de Kemp, who heads the 50-member Ontario Compassion
Club, said the organization
also gets doctors' recommendations before it dispenses.
But even the clubs must rely on illicit drug sources and until Health
Canada's supply is ready for harvest,
product from the street makes doctors nervous. As well, there is some
concern that the photo identity cards
patients receive in order to possess, and in some cases, grow their own
marijuana, will become big hits with
counterfeiters.
Under the new regulations, medical marijuana users can grow their own
supply, designate someone else to
grow it for them, or wait until Health Canada has its product available.
Applications for protection from prosecution under the new rules will be
available from Health Canada
through the Internet.
In the meantime, patients will have to jump through the bureaucratic gaps
between supply and demand.
Newshawk: Carey Ker
Pubdate: July 31, 2001
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Website: The Globe and Mail: Canadian, World, Politics and Business News & Analysis
Contact: letters@globeandmail.ca
Copyright: 2001, The Globe and Mail Company
Forum: https://forums.theglobeandmail.com/
Author: COLIN FREEZE AND CAROLYN ABRAHAM
