Doctors critical of change in medical marijuana laws

Health Canada has put in place new rules for patients to obtain medical marijuana.. Instead of going to Health Canada for approval, patients will go to their family doctor. 

Doctors of BC feels that if marijuana is to be treated like prescription medication then it needs to be successfully reviewed in clinical trials like every other drug marketed in Canada. Currently there is no information on dosage recommendations, benefits and side effects of marijuana use as exists with other prescription drugs. Plus, most doctors have had no training in how to use it in patient care. “We understand patients seeking medical marijuana are often in pain, we understand their need for some relief” says Doctors of BC President, Dr Bill Cavers. “Until we have adequate research on the benefits and risks of medical marijuana, how can we feel certain in prescribing it? We don’t want to see any unintended consequences or side effects from a product that is not tested.” Read more in an interview with the Parksville Qualicum Beach News. 

The Canadian Medical Association and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC are critical of the change and skeptical of the medical benefits of marijuana. “Marijuana is not a simple substance – it's a sophisticated one, and we just don't have enough clinical data on it yet,” wrote Dr Louis Hugo Francescutti in the Medical Marijuana Debates. “Doctors are not very keen to prescribe with a blindfold on. Right now they're asking, 'How can we prescribe something when we have absolutely no clue about its strengths, its side effects, how much to give, or how to monitor it?”