N.B. DOCTORS OPEN TO POT

Province Ranks Fourth Per Capita In Country For Number Of People
Authorized To Possess Medical Marijuana

FREDERICTON - New Brunswick has some of Canada's more pot-friendly
physicians, and a national group says they expect even more
provincial doctors to be writing dope prescriptions in the year to come.

The latest numbers from Health Canada and the Canadian Institute for
Health Information suggest that about three per cent of New
Brunswick's 1,447 physicians support the current authorization for
patients to have possession of marijuana for medical purposes.

Nova Scotia leads all provinces and territories in physicians who
support medical marijuana use, with 7.2 per cent.

Nova Scotia also led all provinces, per capita, in the number of
people authorized to posses medical marijuana. New Brunswick ranked
fourth per capita with 88 people who have that legal authorization
as of June 2009.

The website medicalmarijuana.ca, an online resource cited by
national health groups in bringing together patients and doctors,
say they only expect the number of pot prescriptions to grow.

"It's kind of a quiet program but it's becoming more mainstream,"
said Chad Clelland, director of online and community relations for
the online site. "It's a bit of a snowballing effect.

"I think numbers are going to climb dramatically for new
applications. It's probably acceptance from the doctors having seen
benefits from the program."

The medical marijuana program is authorized by the federal
government and is meant for patients in the treatment of chronic
pain and debilitating illnesses.

There are two symptom categories for which patients can apply to for
program consideration.

Category one is for symptoms of specific medical conditions
(including multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries or diseases,
cancer, HIV/AIDS, severe arthritis and epilepsy), and for when these
medical conditions lead to end-of-life care.

Category two is for patients of any other debilitating disease, who
must get a diagnosis confirmed by a specialist with the suggestion
that other pharmaceutical treatments aren't working for treatments.

"If (a doctor's) patient has gone through regular avenues and finds
that marijuana helps them, the physician is a lot more open to it,"
said Clelland. The physicians themselves are determining the
program's growth, said Clelland, who added that patients are also
stepping forward to initiate a conversation with their doctors about it.

"It takes patients going in to say, 'I use marijuana, and this is
what works best for me,'" he said. "It's up to the doctors to decide
if they're going to help them use it legally or not."

The New Brunswick Medical Society, which represents the province's
fee-for-service physicians, didn't return calls for comment on this story.

Health Canada says it's important that any discussion about medical
marijuana isn't confused with a discussion about legalizing general
marijuana use.

Health Canada says possession of pot without a medical pass is a
criminal offence, and that any pot used for medical use must be
approved by the federal government.

Medical pot patients are given the choice of purchasing dried
marijuana and/or getting the seeds to grow it themselves.

Health Canada suggests most individuals use an average daily amount
of one gram to three grams of dried marijuana for medical purposes,
whether it's taken orally, inhaled or both.