DOCTORS IN N.S. MOST LIKELY TO PRESCRIBE MARIJUANA

Treatment | N.B. in Middle of Pack for Rate of Medical Pot Prescriptions

New Brunswick has some of Canada's more medical marijuana-friendly
physicians, and a national group says it expects even more provincial
doctors to be writing these 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 authorization for patients
to have possession of marijuana for medical purposes.

Nova Scotia leads all provinces and territories for 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 possess medical marijuana. New Brunswick ranked
fourth per capita with 88 people as of June 2009.

A spokesman for the website medicalmarijuana.ca , an online resource
that aims to bring together patients and doctors, said he expects 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.

"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 to treat chronic pain and debilitating illnesses.

There are two symptom categories for which patients can apply 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.

"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 said it's important that any discussion about medical
marijuana isn't confused with a discussion about legalizing marijuana use.

It said 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.