CANADA NEEDS MEDICAL CANNABIS DISPENSARIES

Re: MDs Refuse To Sign Medical Marijuana Form, Oct. 31.

It is sad that physicians have been made the reluctant gatekeepers
for legal cannabis by Health Canada's Marihuana Medical Access
Program (MMAP). Despite a decade of operation, Health Canada's
program continues to obstruct access to Canadians who rely on this
medicine and, as a result, it continues to be found constitutionally
defective by our courts.

Meanwhile, medical cannabis dispensaries (a.k.a. "compassion
centres") are filling the void. This year, the Canadian Association
of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries (CAMCD) was founded in order to
formalize the best practices and to ensure that high-quality patient
care is available nation-wide. For over 15 years, community-based
medical cannabis dispensaries have been providing more than 30,000
Canadians with safe access to medical cannabis products at almost no
cost to the taxpayer. CAMCD believes the Canadian Medical Association
is right to be concerned about physician liability around prescribing
cannabis, but its concern over lack of research misses the point.
What the CMA must acknowledge is that the antiquated policies that
inhibit research, while needlessly criminalizing physicians and
patients alike, are what truly need to be re-examined."

Health Canada's recent announcement that the MMAP is to undergo
massive reform is in itself a tacit admission of failure thus far.
Health Canada is right about only one thing: It should not be in the
business of selling marijuana. Medical cannabis dispensaries have the
established patient populations, infrastructure and social capital to
contribute to the rapidly-growing body of research into cannabis as
medicine. It is time for dispensaries to be recognized by the
government for the legitimate health services they provide.

Adam Greenblatt, director, Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis
Dispensaries, Montreal.