[420 Girl]

Canada - 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.


NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: DailyGleaner.com
Author: NICK MOORE
Contact: DailyGleaner.com
Copyright: 2010 CanadaEast Interactive
Website: Doctors in N.S. most likely to prescribe marijuana


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