REFRESHING COMMON SENSE ON MARIJUANA

Judges See It's About Pain Relief

What would you do if you were the judge? A man in his 40s (his name is
protected under provincial law) is involved in a severe car crash. His
spine is badly damaged, resulting in painful spasms. A variety of
painkillers is prescribed to alleviate the pain, but none are
effective. Would you agree to the medical use of marijuana?

Patient X requested insurance coverage for marijuana, but it was
refused. Not an unexpected decision, as the use of this drug has
sparked controversy for many years. But an unusual event occurred in
this case.

The Quebec judges wrote, "The tribunal is well aware of controversial
attitudes regarding the therapeutic use of marijuana." But then they
added this important message: "There is no medical consensus for this
type of treatment. Therefore, we must rely on personal experience of
the people involved in order to appreciate the benefits of marijuana
use."

The result is that Quebec's auto insurance agency has been ordered to
pay $5,000 to patient X. This will enable him to build a greenhouse in
his home to grow marijuana, pay for water, electricity, plants and
soil expenses. And he can smoke marijuana in his own home.

I admit to some unkind comments about judges in the past. I have
considered their opinions on pain control and some other medical
situations as asinine, devoid of all common sense. But they deserve
congratulations in this instance.

Finally, a tribunal of judges has said, "Let's rely on personal
experience" This columnist has been saying for years there is ample
patient evidence marijuana helps to relieve the pain of several
medical conditions.

But politicians have been reluctant to accept this fact. Finally, in
July 2001 the federal government legalized the use of marijuana for
terminally ill patients, and for those suffering from cancer, multiple
sclerosis, spinal cord injury, AIDS, severe forms of arthritis and
epilepsy.

Marijuana alleviates the severe nausea, persistent muscle spasms and
seizures associated with these diseases. Surely it's not asking too
much to make marijuana easily accessible to these patients.

But government regulations don't make the purchase of marijuana easy.
Patients must first find a physician who will write a letter saying
this drug is needed. They must also indicate if they wish to obtain
marijuana from a licensed dealer or grow it themselves. Health Canada
must then approve the application.

Readers tell me one of the big problems is finding a doctor willing to
get involved with the paperwork. Others complain that it's a
time-consuming process that takes many weeks. The sad and annoying
part is patients continue to suffer while the paperwork is going on.

Some opponents of marijuana say more research is needed to test the
safety of this medication. Yet in 2002 a report from the Harvard
Medical School stressed one of marijuana's greatest advantages is its
remarkable safety.

Critics tend to forget our so-called safe drugs often cause severe
reactions and sometimes death. Most prescription drugs have a list as
long as your arm of possible drug reactions. But to my knowledge, no
one has ever died from an overdose of marijuana. Tests on mice show
the ratio of marijuana needed to overdose to the point of intoxication
is 40,000 to 1. By comparison, for alcohol it's 5 to 1 to 10 to 1!

I don't condone smoking marijuana for pleasure as I'm appalled to see
so many young and older people smoking tobacco. But Canada and the
U.S. spend huge sums of money policing the use of marijuana and
loading our jails with its users. It would be financially prudent
instead to spend these billions on those who need health care and are
not receiving it.

Spinal injuries or diseases that cause unrelenting spasms need speedy
access to marijuana. The best and fastest route would be a doctor's
prescription filled at the local pharmacy. What we need for patients
like X is more judges who realize "personal experience" is the primary
way to evaluate pain.

What do you think?

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