cannabisnews.com: Ottawa Making ‘Mess’ of Medical Marijuana Issue Ottawa Making ‘Mess’ of Medical Marijuana Issue Posted by CN Staff on September 04, 2002 at 17:05:18 PT By Ian Elliot Source: Kingston Whig-Standard Patients in Kingston are suffering while the federal government waffles on medical marijuana laws, says the medical director of Kingston General Hospital’s AIDS clinic. Dr. Peter Ford says there are patients in Kingston who would benefit from the drug but who just can’t get it. That’s because Ottawa has thrown up a baffling set of bureaucratic rules that make it almost impossible for patients who need medical marijuana to obtain it. “The government has made a real mess of it,” Ford said yesterday. “It’s actually getting worse, not better. I get a real sense they’re stalling on the whole issue.” Patients on drugs to fight HIV and AIDS often suffer nausea and loss of appetite as side-effects. Losing weight can be a major complication for someone fighting the disease, and some patients find smoking marijuana increases their appetite and controls nausea. “It’s a very effective stimulator of appetite and reducer of nausea,” Ford said. A pill form of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, is available but some patients find it less effective than smoking the drug. Ottawa recently announced that it wants more research into the effects and benefits of medical marijuana. In the meantime, doctors who want to prescribe the drug for patients are faced with a bureaucratic wall that requires them to affirm statements they say are impossible to prove. Doctors must assure Health Canada that marijuana poses no long-term risk, as well as detailing what each patient’s dose will be in milligrams, something Ford says is impossible given the variety of qualities of marijuana that people can obtain. Many provincial medical associations have advised doctors not to answer the questions but Health Canada will not accept the forms without the information, even when doctors send along a letter explaining why the form is incomplete. Without federal authorization, patients must acquire marijuana on the streets or risk arrest by growing it themselves. “They’re smoking it, they’re just doing it illegally,” explained Ford of the predicament in which patients find themselves. “If they get picked up by the police for possession of a small quantity we’ve told them that we’re prepared to go to bat for them.” Ford said the clinic has not yet had to intervene on behalf of a patient facing a drug charge. In addition to helping HIV patients, the drug has also been found effective when taken by people with glaucoma, cancer and other conditions, and by the terminally ill. The government’s first crop of marijuana, grown in an abandoned mine in Manitoba, was started with plants seized by police and varied in strength. Ottawa has begun a second crop. But although the government has been growing marijuana for medical use, federal Health Minister Anne McLellan said last month that none of its marijuana would be distributed until clinical trials have been conducted. No such trials have started. Ford is worried by the government’s latest move. “Clinical trials take years and you can design them to give you whatever results you want,” he said, pointing out that the government could evaluate marijuana for pain relief, which it does not do well, and conclude it is not an effective drug. He says he suspects Jean Chretien’s Liberal government is in no rush to make it easier for patients to get marijuana because of the United States, which is engaged in a war on drugs and regularly hands out long jail sentences for people using or trafficking marijuana. “We’ve gotten an impression that the government is scared to lighten up on this out of fear of offending the Americans,” Ford said. Source: Kingston Whig-Standard (CN ON)Author: Ian ElliotPublished: Wednesday, September 04, 2002Copyright: 2002 The Kingston Whig-StandardContact: whiged thewhig.comWebsite: http://www.kingstonwhigstandard.com/Related Articles:The Flin Flon Flip-Flophttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13958.shtmlSmoke Out the Politicianshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13880.shtmlHow To Stall On Medicinal Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13823.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #3 posted by herbdoc215 on September 05, 2002 at 08:17:07 PT I have tried smoking marinol in 90's YUK<YUK>YUK The seseme oil was like smoking crisco, no worse. I got some in Ky. back in early 90's when it first came out and a couple of us smoked them because weed was dry then and it was worst experience of my life so if this woman is having to smoke them I say there is some heartless potheads living around her! Come-on people somebody kick down this poor woman a sack since the government wasn't issued a pair. That oil was put into Marinol for just that reason so we can't smoke it, bastards never tried choking a pill down while puking. Plus from PDR- 5mg. Marinol at 30 was $214.78/US so...... it came to $1400.00/US a GRAM for pure THC from gov't approved Unimed, NOW at $10.00/US a gram for pot at 12% THC comes out to $120.00/US for SAME PURE GRAM OF THC. Now let's see... $120.00 vs 1400.00, who is organized crime? You should see how the numbers work out with hash instead of pot, even cheaper. Come-on people let's quit playing ring-around-the-rosey while the gov't is handing out posey's, cause many more than are needed are being turned to ashes. THIS is why they mock us------ they fear us, why? Because they all know they will have to answer to God someday! Peace, Steven Tuck ,in exile [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by kaptinemo on September 05, 2002 at 07:10:40 PT: JVTHC, thank you As allegorical as it is - and I would never ask for a name, considering what could happen to her - I have been wondering how long it would take before we began to hear reports like this (can't swallow Marinol; can smoke it) coming to the forefront. It only makes the claims by antis even more ludicrous on their face, when patients who have Marinol prescriptions have to smoke the sesame seed oil/artificial THC in order to have any relief.Dante said that Hell had nine rings, the ninth being the worst. The Hypocrites resided in the 8th ring. I guess the Unholy Trio of Asa, John "Pee" Walters and Ashcroft are subconsciously feeling the temperature of their backsides flaring in expected pain from knowledge of their inevitable residence being prepared for them. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by jvthc on September 04, 2002 at 18:21:45 PT: A funny thing about marinol..... I know a patient who received prescription Marinol, the synthetic THC tablet. She couldn't keep anything, even water, down long enough for the pill to enter her system. If it weren't for health coverage, the month's supply would have cost as much as the illicit counterpart. She couldn't swallow it and keep it down, anyway, so it was a waste, at first.She decided to crush the tablet with a mortar and pestel, then roll an herbal cigarette (a tobacco substitue of various herbs which have no psycho-active compounds) with the resulting powder (a little gooey) sprinkled into it. She smoked it, just like a joint. It worked! Now just think of that. What the h*ll's the difference between her herbal cigarette with crushed marinol and an actual marijuana joint? Only a small supply of CBD's and CBN's, perhaps a unique balance of terpines and plant material. 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