POT ACTIVIST SMOKES OUT DOCTORS

Canadian Medical Association says most physicians not informed enough
to prescribe medical marijuana

Toronto activist Matt Mernagh is calling the medical marijuana program
a "disaster."

"In my trial, the judge concluded that less than one per cent of
doctors are signing the application," said Mernagh, who had been
involved in a three-year legal battle against charges of possessing
and growing cannabis to self-medicate. "Most of them don't even know
(the program) exists."

To qualify for a licence, patients must obtain a signed declaration
from a doctor and/or specialist, depending on the severity of illness.

While Mernagh says doctors are not necessarily opposed to the program,
from his experience, most of them were not aware it existed until he
brought it up.

"They're just not interested, they know nothing about the medical
marijuana program," he said.

"Health Canada doesn't spend money advertising it, yet all
pharmaceutical companies send reps to doctors explaining new
medications."

In regards to educating physicians on medical marijuana and promoting
awareness of the program, Health Canada spokesperson Stephane Shank
said, "The practice of medicine is not something that falls under
Health Canada's jurisdiction. There are governing bodies such as the
Canadian Medical Association (CMA) and Royal College of Physicians and
Surgeons of Canada that continue to educate their physicians."

According to Dr. Maura Ricketts, director of CMA's public health
office, physicians are usually educated about new medication through
pharmaceutical companies. But when it comes to medical marijuana,
physicians are just not armed with the necessary information to
prescribe it to patients.

"We think somebody has to pull that information together," she said.
"The federal government has put physicians into a very awkward
position of making us the gatekeeper for smoked marijuana, which is a
drug that we actually don't have all the correct information to know
how to use safely."