DOCTORS WARY OF PRESCRIPTION POT

Medical Associations Fear Legal Problems, Heightened Office Security Woes

Linda is in pain and pot makes her feel better.

Approved by her doctor last Christmas to smoke marijuana to ease pain, the
42-year-old Windsor woman had to get it through a group in London where she
was living at the time, paying $50 for seven grams of the high-potency
illegally grown drug.

The news that doctors soon will be able to prescribe and supply a variety
grown by the government is welcome to Linda, who is HIV-positive and has
rheumatoid arthritis.

"The marijuana's not as bad as getting hooked on painkillers," she said
Thursday. "I think it's great."

But many area doctors may take a wait-and-see attitude toward prescribing
medical marijuana, a representative of the Essex County Medical Association
cautioned Thursday.

Dr. Dave Paterson, a family doctor and the association's first
vice-president, said he for one has no desire right now to prescribe marijuana.

"It's just another thing to worry about," Paterson said, adding many
doctors will want more information on prescribing guidelines before they
consider patient requests.

The federal government announced this week it will begin making marijuana
available to doctors for medicinal purposes as early as next week.

Patients must complete an exhaustive form proving they need the drug, which
would be supplied either in crushed leaf or seed form for those who can
grow their own, the government said.

"There's no way I'm going to prescribe it until I know what it's for and
who qualifies for it and what are the legal ramifications for me," Paterson
said, adding he has not received any requests for it in his South Windsor
practice.

"I think that some family doctors are going to be very uncomfortable doing
this, prescribing it, whatever the evidence (of medical value)," said Dr.
Tony Hammer, a family physician who also treats drug abusers.

"There's an aversion to illicit drugs and they might subscribe to the
old-fashioned idea that it's a gateway drug," Hammer said. "I think it does
have some medicinal value."

The Canadian Medical Association says it will advise doctors not to
prescribe marijuana, citing possible liability problems and exposure to
danger should someone break into their offices thinking marijuana was
stored inside.

Paterson said doctors may be approached by drug abusers trying to con
doctors into writing prescriptions.

"There's a lot of seekers of those kinds of medication out there," Paterson
said. "They'd better have some pretty serious guidelines because I would
expect that we'd have a lot of requests for it."

Fred Pritchard, of the Marijuana Compassion Club of Windsor, said the
10-per-cent cannabis content approved for doctors may be too weak and the
one strain licensed by the government might not fit every medical need,
such as appetite boosting.

"Is this strain going to give anybody the munchies?" Pritchard asked,
adding patients likely will obtain more potent marijuana from illegal
sources if they feel the need.

The drug helps ease pain and nausea, boosts appetite and creates a feeling
of euphoria for patients in pain from a variety of causes, advocates say.
Health Canada is to launch a thorough study this fall into marijuana's
medicinal value.

Tight Controls

* It will only be for "grave or debilitating illnesses."

* The price will be $5 per gram, enough for one or two joints. Grown under
licence, it will be couriered to doctors' offices in 30-gram bags, in
limited quantities. Seed packages will be sold to patients for $20 so they
can grow their own.