Doctors of BC feel trapped in medical marijuana debate
Posted April 1, 2014 4:01 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The Doctors of BC says it’s time to get past the opinions on medical marijuana and get the facts straight.
President-elect Dr. Bill Cavers says the group is disappointed to be caught up in this debate. “The old rules simply require physicians to verify that the patient had a certain condition and that the patient reported their symptoms were improving by the use of medical marijuana.”
Cavers says that’s in stark contract to the new rules. “Which require the physicians to prescribe marijuana. That puts the physician smack in the middle between the use of an untested and unsubstantiated medication, the patient and the legal system.”
He is calling for medical pot to be tested to see if it actually is beneficial in dealing with certain chronic pain conditions and cancers. “If it does work, let’s legalize it, let’s bring in controlled studies and make sure it is a pure product.”
“If the physicians of BC are standing up for high-quality patient care, we have to say that we are not sure it is safe to prescribe this until it has been tested. Being put in the position of being gatekeepers for the people that want to access this, it is not a very comfortable position to be in,” he adds.
