MCLELLAN, PHARMACISTS TO DISCUSS OVER-THE-COUNTER MARIJUANA SALES

WINNIPEG - Anne McLellan, the federal Health Minister, will hold
preliminary discussions with the Canadian Pharmacists Association next
month to determine whether its members can distribute medical
marijuana instead of doctors.

Answering doctors' questions at the Canadian Medical Association's
annual meeting yesterday, Ms. McLellan said the pharmacists' group has
"expressed some interest" in providing the dried marijuana to
individuals authorized to use it for medical purposes.

In response to a court ruling forcing the federal government to supply
the drug, Ms. McLellan last month announced a temporary plan to
deliver marijuana to patients through doctors' offices, with
physicians being used as "intermediaries" to give the drug to their
patients.

The Canadian Medical Association (CMA), however, is opposed to the
policy. Some doctors are also concerned people will break into their
offices or that they will be harassed by patients.

"I clearly understand the concerns of the CMA and doctors, and that's
why we have contacted both the CMA and the Canadian Association of
Pharmacists," Ms. McLellan told doctors after delivering her speech.
"We are going to sit down in the weeks ahead, very soon, and talk to
both groups and determine how we can move forward in a way that works
for everybody."

Officials with the doctors' association are still skeptical. They say
there should be clear, scientific proof of marijuana's medicinal
properties before it is administered to patients.

"We don't know whether it's safe. We don't know whether it's
effective," Dr. Dana Hanson, president of the CMA, said. "It doesn't
matter who hands it out.... We've still got the same concerns."

The CMA has 10 criteria for the medical use of marijuana designed to
address doctors' concerns about distributing it to patients. The group
says the distribution project should function as a clinical trial that
would involve the ongoing monitoring and surveillance of patients
taking the drug.

Alberta MP Rob Merrifield, the Canadian Alliance health critic, said
distributing medical marijuana through pharmacists would not fully
relieve doctors of responsibility because they would still need to
write prescriptions for a drug that has not been properly tested.

"I hope pharmacists make it clear they want it handled like any other
drug and the regulations are in place, same as any other drug," he
said after listening to Ms. McLellan's remarks in Winnipeg. "I don't
think pharmacists want to be on the front lines of this, either."

Janet Cooper, senior director of professional affairs for the Canadian
Pharmacists Association, stressed the talks in September are only
preliminary, but that it makes sense to get pharmacies involved.

"If it's a product that's prescribed and used within the Canadian
health care system, then it makes common sense," she said. "That's
part of what we [pharmacists] do."