People with AIDS forced to break law to ease pain
By: Mark Hoult, The Community Press (CN ON), 10-03-08

Part V of a series on the medical use of marijuana

Although fewer than 3,000 Canadians are licensed to use medical marijuana, it's estimated that between 400,000 and one million people in the country use cannabis as medication. The following is the second in a series of articles about the use of marijuana to treat medical conditions.

An extensive survey carried out in Toronto in 2004-2005 by sociologists Pat Erickson and Andy Hathawaa revealed that Canadians - at least Canadians living in Toronto - are remarkably tolerant about the use of marijuana for medical purposes. "We did a representative survey of adults in Toronto that went beyond just the simple question of do you agree or disagree," Dr. Erickson said in an interview with The Community Press.

Dr. Erickson, a criminologist with the Centre of Addiction and Mental Health, said 84 per cent of the people surveyed said current laws should allow people suffering from cancer, AIDS, Hepatitis C and other serious illnesses to grow and possess marijuana. And 81 per cent said restrictions should be loosened for people with less serious illnesses if they feel marijuana provides them with relief.

"That's the interesting grey area with medical marijuana," Dr. Erickson said, noting that about four out of five people are saying that "if it makes you feel better, you should be able to use it."

Health Canada's Marijuana Medical Access Regulations came into effect in July of 2001 to allow patients suffering from certain medical conditions to obtain, grow and smoke marijuana to relieve the pain and other symptoms of their illnesses.

With the introduction of Health Canada's medical marijuana program, Canada joined Belgium, Australia, the Netherlands, the U.K., Spain and a handful of American states in allowing licensed patients the medical use of cannabis.

Health Canada has established two categories of patients under its access regulations. The first includes those suffering from acute pain, spasms, weight loss and violent nausea caused by multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries, cancer and HIV/AIDS. The first category also includes people suffering from severe forms of arthritis and from epilepsy.

The second category includes patients with other severe medical problems. This category is for applicants who have debilitating symptoms and medical conditions other than those described in the first category. Under Category 2, people with debilitating symptoms can apply to obtain an authorization to possess dried marijuana for medical purposes, "if a specialist confirms the diagnosis and that conventional treatments have failed or judged inappropriate to relieve symptoms of the medical condition."

Health Canada statistics show that 2,432 people were authorized to possess dried marijuana under the Marijuana Medical Access Regulations as of February 2008. The problem with these numbers, says Lynne Belle-Isle, an epidemiologist and program consultant with the Canadian AIDS Society, is that they don't represent the number of people living with the pain and discomfort of a range of diseases who could benefit from medical marijuana.

In 2005 there were approximately 48,000 people in Canada living with HIV/AIDS. And yet, according to research done by the Canadian AIDS Society, fewer than 200 individuals living with HIV/AIDS were registered to receive the government's cannabis supply in 2006. The CAS states that between 14 and 37 per cent of people with HIV/AIDS use marijuana to help manage their symptoms, which include loss of appetite, wasting, nausea and vomiting, pain, anxiety, depression and stress. The CAS also estimates that more than 85 per cent of medicinal cannabis users obtain their supply illegally.

"Medical marijuana has been an issue for HIV/AIDS patients as far back as 1998," Belle-Isle said. And that's why the CAS issued a policy report in 2006 on issues related to the use of medicinal cannabis titled "Cannabis as Therapy for People Living with HIV/AIDS: 'Our Right, Our Choice.'" The report was the culmination of an 18-month project that "identifies the numerous barriers to access to medicinal cannabis and to the federal medical cannabis program."

The report said obstacles include a lack of awareness of the program, difficulty in locating physicians to support applications to the program, and limited options for a legal and affordable supply. In the report, the CAS advises Health Canada to re-establish its stakeholders advisory committee to gather feedback from seriously ill Canadians. Belle-Isle said the CAS would like to see Health Canada's medical marijuana program "expanded, improved and simplified."

And there must be more research done into the medicinal qualities of cannabis, Belle-Isle said. AIDS patients in particular have historically had few options for treatments. "A lot of the drugs made available were experimental, and they were nasty," she said.

Fortunately, there is evidence that cannabis is effective in relieving the symptoms of AIDS, Belle-Isle said. "It's already been shown to be good for appetite stimulation, nausea and pain," she said, stressing that patients have the right to have access to medications of their choice. "If it works, who are we to deny them?"

But Paul Duchesne, chief of medial relations for Health Canada, said advocates for the expansion of the medical marijuana program will likely have to wait. "I don't believe there are any plans to expand the program," he said.

Meanwhile, according to information from the office of Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro, Health Canada and Public Works and Government Services Canada are working together to ensure there is no interruption in the supply of medical marijuana while a new contract is being tendered "on a competitive basis."

The existing contract for medical marijuana was scheduled to terminate at the end of October, a spokesperson said. However, because of the election the contract with Prairie Plant Systems, the government supplier of dried cannabis, has been extended for six months. Once the six months are up, Health Canada will take its application to the Treasury Board for a 2.5-year sole-source contract with Prairie Plant Systems.

2004 H.U.M.A.N.: Hemp Users Medical Access Network - Toronto Medical Marijuana