BE CAREFUL ABOUT MEDICAL POT USE, MD WARNS

Move May Spur More Smoking For Recreation, Senators Told

Ottawa - The president of the Canadian Medical Association says he
fears the government policy of allowing medical marijuana use may
also encourage recreational use, which he strongly opposes.

"We have to be very careful that it's not going to end up being
thought that this is a normal societal behaviour to smoke marijuana,"
Henry Haddad told a Senate committee Monday.

Still, the medical association has long been in favour of
decriminalizing simple possession, and Haddad supplied a new
argument, saying a criminal conviction damages health.

"Each year thousands of teens and adults receive criminal records for
possession. To the degree that having a criminal record limits or
handicaps employment prospects, the impact on health status is
profound."

Arguing against recreational use, Haddad said marijuana damages the
lungs, can be addictive in about five per cent of users, is
associated with lower school marks and may result in lost life
opportunities.

Senator Pierre Claude Nolin, chairman of the committee studying the
use of illegal drugs, said a third of medical students have tried
marijuana, and asked Haddad if they had failed in their lives.

Medical practitioners have the same problems as the rest of the
population, Haddad countered.

He said decriminalization must be tied to a national drug strategy
that promotes awareness, prevention and treatment as well as research
and monitoring.

He also argued that demand for medical marijuana to help dying
patients reflects the poor job Canada does providing palliative care.

Marijuana is never requested by dying patients in his home town of
Sherbrooke, Que., he said.

The reason, he suggested, is that staff at Sherbrooke provide good
palliative care for terminal patients, something he believes is
lacking in many communities.

"I ask (medical staff) has a single patient requested marijuana. No.
Because the palliative care is done well. I think it's important to
look at the whole context in which marijuana is offered."

"What we do badly in this country is care at the end of life, what is
called compassionate care. Experts who know this area say it's done
well in only 10 to 15 per cent of cases."