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| Doctors Raise Marijuana Alarm |
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Posted by FoM on August 14, 2001 at 08:08:34 PT By Vanessa Lu, Health Policy Reporter Source: Toronto Star 
When Health Minister Allan Rock announced his plans to ban ``light'' or ``mild'' cigarette labels yesterday, Canadian doctors quickly pointed to the irony, given his recent decision to allow marijuana for medicinal reasons. Although Rock did not even mention marijuana in his wide-ranging speech at the Canadian Medical Association's annual meeting, physicians later grilled him on his decision to turn pot into a medication. ``I see a big difference between smoking cigarettes regularly,'' Rock said, ``and permitting access to medical marijuana to someone who is dying.'' He argued that dispensing a drug to patients in great pain is different from getting the same drug on the street. But doctors have been alarmed by the federal government's decision to allow marijuana for medical purposes, given little scientific evidence showing its effectiveness. They say they do not even know what dose to dispense or what to tell patients about risks or benefits. ``I do concede we are breaking new ground,'' Rock said, adding clinical trials are set to begin in Toronto and Montreal. ``In the meantime, we are responding on a compassionate basis to people who believe it will help.'' However, Dr. Raju Hajela of Kingston, who has treated patients with marijuana addiction, told Rock that by giving the federal government's stamp of approval, the public will believe marijuana is safe. ``I have teenagers at home,'' said Rock, a father of four. ``I've spoken to them about this issue. I have been very clear to them that there's a difference between medical access to marijuana and the fact that it is not an appropriate drug for recreational use.'' Still, doctors say they do not want the responsibility of being dispensing agents. They say they do not know the long-term effects and risks of pot and they want to learn about possible drug interactions. The College of Physicians and Surgeons in Quebec, which licenses doctors, has such strong concerns about the medical use of marijuana that it has ordered its members not to prescribe it at all. Dr. Rocco Gerace, president of the Ontario college, said no decision has been made on whether to follow suit. Each college has the power to decide how it will proceed. While doctors opposed the introduction of medicinal marijuana, they praised Rock's decision yesterday to take on the big tobacco companies. ``It's long overdue,'' said Dr. Ted Boadway, executive director of health policy for the Ontario Medical Association. ``The tobacco industry has known for years that light or mild cigarettes deliver just as much toxic material.'' Boadway added smokers are often misled that light or mild cigarettes are safer than regular cigarettes, when they are not. Tobacco companies said they were surprised by Rock's sudden announcement, given that initial discussions on labelling began only last week with Health Canada officials. ``We're very disappointed. This was totally unexpected,'' said Rothmans spokesperson John McDonald. Imperial Tobacco president and chief executive officer Bob Bexon said in a statement that his company was about to deliver its position to the minister, within a 100-day consultation period that began in late May. McDonald also took issue with Rock's comments that tobacco companies ``lie'' to consumers. ``We have never made the claim that lighter or milder are healthier or less risky,'' he said, adding the labels were first introduced in the 1960s at the government's request. Almost 7 million Canadians are smokers and as many as 45,000 die each year from tobacco-related diseases. Direct health-care expenses linked to smoking are estimated at $3 billion a year. Note: Long-term effects of medical use unclear, minister told. Source: Toronto Star (CN ON) Related Articles & Web Site: Canadian Links Drugs in Canada - Gone To Pot Canada Legalises the Compassionate Joint CannabisNews Articles - Canada Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #13 posted by FoM on August 14, 2001 at 18:05:27 PT |
| That made my day! I'm glad you are addicted to Cannabis News. I've always been a person that wants to know why. I like the slogan for National Geographics. Always Wonder! That's what is so great about the Internet. We can wonder and now we can find answers. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #12 posted by J.R. Bob Dobbs on August 14, 2001 at 14:40:03 PT |
| Every morning, often before I check my email, I'll come to Cannabis News. I'll look here several times a day to see if there have been any new stories posted, and I can't leave the computer until I've read every one which looks interesting. I have a major Cannabis News habit - one I'm sure the prohibitionists would love to treat me for! But I'd rather be addicted to an informative website, compared to some people who are addicted to lying, stealing, and trampling all over the constitution. Is there rehab strong enough for these people? [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #11 posted by Rambler on August 14, 2001 at 11:54:52 PT |
| If you are a human,you are a person who has habits.Habits are part of being human.Who can say that they have no habits? Habits,and addiction closely related,and the defining line between the two is very hazy. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #10 posted by kaptinemo on August 14, 2001 at 11:50:07 PT:
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| and a powerful profit motive - can be a dangerous thing. (Doc Russo: present company excepted for what I'm about to say.) Remember Phen-Fen? It was supposed to be 'safe' too...and looked what happened. It was supposed to have been exhaustively tested - and still people suffered grievously. Tens of thousands of prescriptions were written by doctors based upon the unwarranted faith in pharamceutical corporations and the FDA to properly examine all aspects of the medications - especially their side effects. Thousands have permanent heart damage because of that unwarranted trust. A trust violated because of the thrice-damned collusion between those supposedly mutually antagonistic organizations - which are so intertwined anymore that it is senseless to try to differentiate between them. If the pharmaceutical corporations broke wind, the FDA would die of asphyxiation, because the FDA's top executives noses are up the pharmacorps's backsides. But in 5,000 years of recorded human history, not...a...single...person...died from cannabis 'poisoning'. As had been stated by someone before, the only way you can be hurt by cannabis is if kilo of it fell out of a fifty story window and landed on your head. If these cannabis-shy doctors can (on so cryingly little more than the say so of pharmaceutical corporations) claim that a drug is safe, then they better quit their bitchin' about cannabis...lest the depth of their own ignorance of the pharmacorps 'testing procedures' be held up to them as proof of their endangering their patients' lives by relying upon the word of these money-hungrey jackals and their government cat's-paws. As they did with Phen-Fen. Ignorance kills, doctors. As some of you know all too well; I've learned the hard way about the meaning of the word iatrogenic. As in 'damage caused by doctors'. My mother learned an even harder lesson...and can learn no more, thanks to them. The same kind of lesson learned thousands of time each year...often with a headstone punctuating the end of the lesson. But more than enough anecdotal evidence regarding cannabis's lack of a LD-50 exists to sooth your pharmacorp-jangled nerves. So, what's yer problem? [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #9 posted by The Offspring on August 14, 2001 at 11:45:11 PT |
| Is there such a thing as Marijuana Addiction. There is no Physical Withdrawal symptoms from Cannabis. I never experienced it anyway. Some people may have more addictive personalities. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #8 posted by Doug on August 14, 2001 at 10:05:23 PT |
| Soem of the doctors in Canada argue that they don't want to be involved in prescribing herbal medicine, and I've go to sort of agree with them. In general, (allopathic or "conventional") doctors are not comfortable with herbs, and only like extracted compounds that are sold by Big Pharma. While I might not agree with that opinion, I think it is their right to have that opinion, and I think more and more people are realizing the limits to that world view, and are taking their medical business to other types of practioners. But at least the Canadian doctors (some of thme) are realizing that marijuana is herbal medicine, and not especially in their bailiwick. The problem here stems from the fact that the Canadian government requires medical doctors to approve the use of marijuana for their patients. A much better solution would be to just leagalize the use of the substance and leave the doctors out of the loop. The law as it is currently written has so much red tape that I think eventually it will boil down to legalization. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #7 posted by FoM on August 14, 2001 at 09:21:03 PT |
| My opinion about smoking Cannabis is there very well could be some side effects but I believe in the quality of ones existence and if Cannabis makes a person's life trip a little more pleasant then I'm all for it. I have an ezboard where I put different articles so I can find them when I want to. If you check out this article you'll see the irrationality to Cannabis Prohibition. Many Drugs Harm the Liver, but Most Remain on the Market [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #6 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on August 14, 2001 at 09:14:55 PT:
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| The trouble is that law enforcement and many DA's are not playing by the rules. Many patients in "legal states" with doctor letters are still being busted for small grow operations. They merely claim the amount is too much, or claim sales when they have never occurred. The government approach is: if you don't like the medical marijuana laws, try to coerce people from pursuing their legal rights. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #5 posted by dddd on August 14, 2001 at 09:06:16 PT |
| for not wanting to be the only link between legal and illegal Marijuana.....it's just not a good place to be,when you have the feds sniffing about your office,and rummaging through your files,,,,it aint pretty...dddd [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #4 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on August 14, 2001 at 09:01:36 PT:
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| If any government agency in Canada would like to pursue this, I would be happy to set up a symposium or series of symposia with my colleagues to educate their doctors on clinical cannabis. There are also books and journals available. Ignorance is a poor excuse, but perpetuation of ignorance without efforts to alleviate it is malpractice. It is no longer "good enough" to tell a patient that, "You should not pursue this treatment because I don't know anything about it." Rather, doctors must educate themselves, or at least refer to someone who knows more about a given issue. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by Patrick on August 14, 2001 at 08:54:36 PT |
| I can see why these doctors raise the "alarm." 70 years of not even being able to study something has left us with a generation of healers that only think inside the bottle. If it's not a pill from some huge corporate entity or pharmaceutical company then they, basically are ignorant on the subject. I am not blamming the doctors for their ignorance just in case you are reading this Joe Politician/Drug Warrior. I am willing to bet that Dr. Russo could explain to them the long-term effects of use with consistent potency in the proper medical jargon. "Still, doctors say they do not want the responsibility of being dispensing agents. They say they do not know the long-term effects and risks of pot and they want to learn about possible drug interactions." Well, here is a thought that should make any of these nervous doctors feel a little more at ease. Marijuana is less harmful than alcohol. There is no way as a (well read) doctor you cannot know or at the very least suspect this by now unless you are a mushroom. So doctors, help us with your Vote. If prohibition is terminated, then the medical community doesn't have to worry about dispensing it at all! In fact, the medical community will find an even lighter work load as the number of alcohol poisonings in emergency rooms is likely to fall dramatically. And as a sidebar regarding drug interactions: If I am smoking pot, personally, I don't need any other drugs including the deadly killer aspirin. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by TroutMask on August 14, 2001 at 08:49:45 PT |
| Don't forget the good doctors who are helping us in our fight, especially Dr Russo! -TM [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by Sam Adams on August 14, 2001 at 08:41:45 PT |
| Doctors, the male ones and especially surgeons, are mostly egotistical control freaks who check their compassion at the door of the hospital (sorry to the good docs out there, but it's true). It's MY body, guys....not yours. Maybe you should be a little more concerned about dispensing the dangerous prescription meds your drug company buddies hand out - you're not so worried about "dispensing" them, are ya? For instance, the Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that kill 16,000 people a year in the US (mostly eldery - they bleed to death from GI ulcers). Oh yeah, I forgot, nobody from the medical marijuana movement is buying you drinks and dinners all week..... [ Post Comment ] |
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