An article by the Canadian AIDS Society says not enough is being done to get Canadians to use legal marijuana.

Apparently legalizing a drug with no credible scientific evidence for its use as primary or secondary treatment for anything is not enough.

According to the Society?

  • “Despite estimates that thousands of seriously ill Canadians use cannabis for medicinal purposes, only 1399 persons are currently legally authorized to possess cannabis for medical purposes.”
  • “Only 26% of the medicinal users of cannabis we consulted had obtained an authorization to possess cannabis for medical purposes.”

So, users don’t see the need to get their marijuana legally, and doctors don’t think it’s worth the paperwork to prescribe it.

There’s more.

  • “Access to the federal program remains hindered by barriers such as a lack of awareness of the program?s existence, mistrust in the government, misinformation about the program, and difficulty in finding a physician to support their application.

Is there a degree of paranoia here?

And now, the emotional pitch.

  • Thousands of seriously ill Canadians must therefore choose between breaking the law to use the therapy of their choice, or going without, which in many cases compromises their well-being and quality of life.”

The bottom line?
Life is full of choices, and no evidence of anybody doing without marijuana is presented in the article.

My guess? People who smoke marijuana are happy with their sources and see no need for the government of Canada to get involved.

4/25/07 21:20 JR

Hi, I’m JR

John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.