cannabisnews.com: No Easy Pot Prescriptions: Local MDs





No Easy Pot Prescriptions: Local MDs
Posted by FoM on July 31, 2001 at 15:18:48 PT
By Deb Guerette, Herald-Tribune Staff
Source: Herald-Tribune 
Mistahia Health Region doctors aren't ready to roll out medical marijuana prescriptions with ease, despite new federal access rules implemented Monday. Doctors have concerns about using marijuana medically and the new access rules leaves them in a "precarious" position when patients begin to seek it, Mistahia medical director Dr. Herb Janzen said. "It is a very real problem and it needs to be taken seriously. It does put doctors in a precarious or untenable position," Janzen said Monday. 
"The public can come and say I believe this will help with this condition... but there are no guidelines. How much is useful? What is the dosage? None of that is established," he said.Janzen said he concurs with Alberta Medical Association president Clayne Steed's call for Health Canada minister Allan Rock to deal with those concerns.Use of marijuana for medical treatment is "not evidence-based and has not yet had any rigorous testing regarding long-term implications," Steed told the federal minister.Doctors have no clinical guidelines for when a marijuana prescription is warranted or for the appropriate dosage to use. Doctors also have no way of knowing the potency of the pot a patient may procure at different times, he said.Steed called on Alberta doctors to "thick twice before completing any forms for the use of marijuana." Northwest Medical Staff Association president Dr. Garth Campbell said he shares the concerns expressed by the AMA and supports Steed's position.The Canadian Medical Association made similar calls for Rock to deal with concerns as the new federal medical marijuana access regulations, published in draft in April and approved July 4, came into effect Monday. Janzen said dealing with patients who may be looking for a legal way to use marijuana recreationally is "not a good position to be put in. "It is not a good law. It is not well researched," he said.When patients come looking for a specific drug, particularly painkillers such as codeine, demerol or other narcotics, doctors' "index of suspicion (about why the drug is being requested) is high," Janzen said.Doctors feel prescribing marijuana is "fraught with personal liability," he said."At the moment I wouldn't think about writing a prescription for it."The regulations govern the possession and production of marijuana for medical purposes. Two main components of the rules allow people to use it and gives them licence to grow it for themselves or other authorized individuals. Rock calls the new regulations a "compassionate measure that will improve the quality of life of sick Canadians, particularly those who are terminally ill."The regulations set three categories of illness marijuana can be prescribed for, which include terminal illnesses with a prognosis of death within 12 months and other serious medical conditions.Marijuana is claimed to provide symptomatic, not curative, relief of nausea with cancer and AIDS therapies. Patients say it stimulates appetite and produces weight gain.Source: Daily Herald Tribune, The (CN AB)Author: Deb Guerette, Herald-Tribune StaffPublished: July 31, 2001Copyright: 2001 The Daily Herald TribuneContact: frinne bowesnet.comWebsite: http://www.dailyheraldtribune.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmPot Law a Bust - Critics http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10480.shtmlCanada Legalises The Compassionate Joint http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10477.shtmlCannabisNews Articles - Canadahttp://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=canada 
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Comment #4 posted by dddd on August 01, 2001 at 07:02:23 PT
yes,,,these are good points Mr Take it easy
...but my fear is,,,(not so much in Canada),,that here in the states,,,that the DEA will start sniffing around any and all doctors whodo prescribe Marijuana,,and they will try to harass them,andthreaten to pull their licenses,,audit them,,etc..if they write toomany prescriptions...............I am not a doctor who has the documentation to prove it,,,butif I was,,,man would I be thinkin' twice about any of my patientswho wanted to renew their Oxycontin prescriptions,,,they alreadyhad a monitoring system for all prescription drugs,,,,,my cousinsmother in law is a M.D....She was about 60 years old at the time,,,,in practice for over 30 years,,,and the DEA came a knockin' andsaid that she was prescribing way too much Vicoden,,,they had somesort of special federal warrant,,and they rifled the poor old gals office.....of course,,she was completely legit,,,guilty of having a bunch ofolder patients that were in pain.................Anyway,,,,,I say,,,just watch...they will build a whole new strange beauracracyaround medical Marijuana,with I.D. cards,,and state and federal registrationas a "Marijuana user".......Of course it will start with the innocent excuseof registering legal pot smokers so they wont get busted,,,,ah yes,,,butthat also leaves them with a scary list of citizens,,,with names,addresses,and all manner of info,,,,,eventually,,one will apply for insurance,,and perhapsbe turned down due to the medical status of Marijuana use,,saying that it isnot "proven",,or federally approved and accepted as medicine......on another note......It is indeed,,,quite interesting to observe the scurrying of the Drug Pigs,andsee the increase in their obscene propaganda.....they can sense the tide ofchange,,and they are on full alert.....They are having to be very loud,,but ina qiuet way,,,,the idiotic drug ads have increased on TV,,and the printed matterhas become noticeably more obvious,and fake.dddd("Drug Pigs",is my new term for the hardcore antis,,,I was inspired when I heard WarPigs on the radio the other day......Dan B is hep.......) 
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Comment #3 posted by Mr. take it easy on August 01, 2001 at 06:00:12 PT
Relax everybody
You could say that fighting these new regulations is going to speed up the legalization process altogether. People will get it if they need from their doctor. That is to say if they have a good relationship with them. Most doctors will try to make you feel better. If you have tried everything and along with your doctor you bring up the fact that mari actually helps, they will not have a problem. 
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Comment #2 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on July 31, 2001 at 17:31:58 PT:
I Repeat My Offer
If these doctors wish to alleviate their own ignorance and anxiety about clinical cannabis, I would be happy to have them finance a seminar, which I would be happy to organize, with a number of extremely qualified medical and legal experts. 
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Comment #1 posted by jorma nash on July 31, 2001 at 16:48:16 PT
Hypocritic Oath.
""Doctors have concerns about using marijuana medically and the new access rules leaves them in a "precarious" position when patients begin to seek it, Mistahia medical director Dr. Herb Janzen said.""oh, don't you feel sorry for this rich, healthy, upper-class white male's "precarious" position?trade places for a year withsomeone forced to choose between abatement of chronic suffering,or breaking the law and risking prison time...then you can talk to me about a "precarious" position."When patients come looking for a specific drug, particularly painkillers such as codeine, demerol or other narcotics, doctors' "index of suspicion (about why the drug is being requested) is high," Janzen said."you don't suppose it could be they have found cannabis to be more effectivefor treating their chronic pain than the synthetics pushed by the Conglomerates that Own you?oh, no, this (a-hem) healer knows far more about his patient's painthan the person who is actually suffering it.not quite sure if they take the Hippocratic Oath in Canada.however, if the choice between defying a rapidly crumbling prohibition in Canadaand treating chronic pain is such a "precarious" one,my index of suspicion is high that you thought you took a Hypocritic Oath.
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