The Canadian Medical Association and the Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of Canada are deeply concerned about the advancement of a regulatory proposal to reform the medical marijuana access program.
These reforms may place an unacceptable degree of responsibility on physicians, given the relative lack of evidence regarding the health benefits of medical marijuana. If Health Canada no longer screens applications for use of medical marijuana, this essentially makes the physician the sole decision-maker.
Physicians should not be expected to prescribe medical marijuana unless it meets the regulatory requirement for prescription medication established under the federal Food and Drugs Act. We strongly believe that the same safety and evidence standards applied to pharmaceutical health products should be applied to medical marijuana.
However, information is lacking in a number of areas, including correct dosage, efficacy, possible side effects and interaction with other medications or pre-existing conditions, information that physicians require to make evidence-based clinical decisions.
We recommend that the government of Canada focus its efforts on addressing the lack of research in these areas.
We want to stress the need for a rational and evidence-based approach with regard to the medical marijuana program.
It would be neither prudent nor responsibleto propose regulatory changes in disregard of the need for more robust standards for this program.
Anna Reid, president, Canadian Medical Association
Heidi M. Oetter, president, Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of Canada