MDS SHOULD NOT ENCOURAGE POT USE

Re: How To Get Your Medicinal Pot, letter to the editor, Feb. 27.

Dr. David Saul implies that if patients request a Health Canada
cannabis authorization form, physicians are obliged by the provincial
medical college to sign the form or refer them to a physician who
will. This is incorrect and it is reckless to promote cannabis as a
harmless medicine. I have seen patients whose lives have been
destroyed by cannabis addiction or cannabis-induced psychosis. Smoked
cannabis has been shown to cause precancerous changes in various
tissues. Also, THC serum levels rise rapidly when smoked, creating a
risk for motor vehicle accidents. The oral and inhaled versions of
cannabis are far safer.

I would discourage physicians from authorizing smoked cannabis. They
should prescribe oral or inhaled cannabis only for patients with a
medical condition for which cannabis has been shown to be effective,
and who are at low risk for cannabis-related harms.

Dr. Meldon Kahan, medical director,

Addiction Medicine Service, St. Joseph's Health Centre, Toronto.