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Réjean Hébert, Quebec's health minister, says Ottawa's proposed new regulations on medical marijuana is putting doctors in an impossible situation.
Previously, patients who might use medical marijuana for pain relief, those with AIDS, for instance, were allowed to possess or grow marijuana for their own use.
About 30,000 permits to grow medical marijuana were issued starting in 2002 by Health Canada.
The federal government also grew medical marijuana for a time in an underground mine in Manitoba, but its product was criticized for being too weak.
Under regulations announced last month by federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, however, Health Canada will no longer be a supplier and no more permits will be issued to individuals to grow medical marijuana. Ottawa will instead choose private contractors to produce medical marijuana for which a patient must first have a doctor's prescription.
"The federal government has put us in an impossible situation," Hébert told reporters. "(Ottawa) is asking doctors to prescribe marijuana but (it does) not recognize marijuana as a medication, properly speaking."
In a statement, Dr. Yves Robert, secretary of Quebec's Collège des médecins, said Aglukkaq's new regulation shifts responsibility to doctors "for the use and acquisition of an illegal product for which no assurance that an effective dosage, safety and standardization is available."
Hébert said the federal government should rule that marijuana is a medication so that doctors can legally prescribe it. "Because marijuana is not recognized by Ottawa as a drug, there is no drug identification number," he added. "(Having a number) is the first step for a drug to be prescribed by a doctor."
And once that first step has been taken, Hébert said, the province's prescription drugs insurance program could decide to cover medical marijuana prescriptions.
"The federal government is not doing its job in this matter," he said.
Marc-Boris St-Maurice, director of the Montreal Compassion Centre, said the new federal approach means Ottawa wants out of the business of producing medical marijuana and issuing permits to grow cannabis, a practice introduced by a previous Liberal government. But "the courts have ruled that people who need it for medical reasons, should be entitled to get it, and that preventing their access is unconstitutional," he said.
On the other hand, the doctors are saying, "We don't know enough about this substance. We don't want to prescribe it," St-Maurice said.
"The doctors don't want to be responsible for who gets it or not. And we agree with them," he said.
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: montrealgazette.com
Author: Kevin Dougherty
Contact: Contact Us - Montreal Gazette
Website: Ottawa is shirking its responsibility in allowing access to medical marijuana, Quebec
Previously, patients who might use medical marijuana for pain relief, those with AIDS, for instance, were allowed to possess or grow marijuana for their own use.
About 30,000 permits to grow medical marijuana were issued starting in 2002 by Health Canada.
The federal government also grew medical marijuana for a time in an underground mine in Manitoba, but its product was criticized for being too weak.
Under regulations announced last month by federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, however, Health Canada will no longer be a supplier and no more permits will be issued to individuals to grow medical marijuana. Ottawa will instead choose private contractors to produce medical marijuana for which a patient must first have a doctor's prescription.
"The federal government has put us in an impossible situation," Hébert told reporters. "(Ottawa) is asking doctors to prescribe marijuana but (it does) not recognize marijuana as a medication, properly speaking."
In a statement, Dr. Yves Robert, secretary of Quebec's Collège des médecins, said Aglukkaq's new regulation shifts responsibility to doctors "for the use and acquisition of an illegal product for which no assurance that an effective dosage, safety and standardization is available."
Hébert said the federal government should rule that marijuana is a medication so that doctors can legally prescribe it. "Because marijuana is not recognized by Ottawa as a drug, there is no drug identification number," he added. "(Having a number) is the first step for a drug to be prescribed by a doctor."
And once that first step has been taken, Hébert said, the province's prescription drugs insurance program could decide to cover medical marijuana prescriptions.
"The federal government is not doing its job in this matter," he said.
Marc-Boris St-Maurice, director of the Montreal Compassion Centre, said the new federal approach means Ottawa wants out of the business of producing medical marijuana and issuing permits to grow cannabis, a practice introduced by a previous Liberal government. But "the courts have ruled that people who need it for medical reasons, should be entitled to get it, and that preventing their access is unconstitutional," he said.
On the other hand, the doctors are saying, "We don't know enough about this substance. We don't want to prescribe it," St-Maurice said.
"The doctors don't want to be responsible for who gets it or not. And we agree with them," he said.
News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: montrealgazette.com
Author: Kevin Dougherty
Contact: Contact Us - Montreal Gazette
Website: Ottawa is shirking its responsibility in allowing access to medical marijuana, Quebec
