The number of Canadians legally signed up to buy medical marijuana has more than tripled in the last year.
The Health Canada statistics reflect an explosion in the number of Canadians who are turning to marijuana to get relief from everything from chronic pain to nausea from chemotherapy.
By the end of September, nearly 100,000 Canadians had obtained prescriptions and registered to buy cannabis with one of the growers licensed by Health Canada, such as the Tweed company in Smiths Falls. That’s a dramatic leap from the 30,537 people registered in September 2015.
The increase coincides with the switch in 2014 from a system dominated by patients growing their own marijuana to the introduction of large commercial grow-ops that sell cannabis by mail.
A number of factors appear to be in play, according to cannabis industry officials and doctors who are pioneering the use of marijuana.
There is a growing awareness among both patients and doctors of the possible benefits of medical marijuana. Clinics and information centres have sprung up to advise patients on how to obtain cannabis legally, direct them to cannabis-friendly doctors, and give advice on how to use it.
The licensed marijuana producers have also devoted resources to educating doctors and the public.
Canopy Growth Corporation, for instance, the parent company for Tweed, has sent experts to doctors’ offices across Canada to talk about the benefits of cannabis, and has sponsored continuing education courses for physicians.
The shift in attitudes has been marked, says Bruce Linton, Canopy’s CEO. When Tweed opened its plant in the old Hershey chocolate factory in the spring of 2014, says Linton, the general attitude was, “We all knew everything about cannabis — it was prohibited and bad, and therefore we weren’t supporting it.”
As the use of cannabis becomes more mainstream, more doctors are prescribing it, says Linton.
Dr. Sana-Ara Ahmed, who began using cannabis in her practice a year ago, believes patients are driving the trend. “There may be a few more doctors open to it. But I also believe it’s the same doctors, seeing more people. The direction is coming from the public. The direction is not coming from the physicians.”
People are sharing stories about cannabis, says Ahmed, an anesthesiologist and chronic pain specialist who advocates for cannabis use. “Patients are coming out and saying, ‘Hey, mom, I smoked a joint, maybe you should, too.’ And mom (at first) says, ‘No!’ Then she’ll go back to her doctor, who says, ‘I have no idea, but I hear there is a specialist in town; go talk to them.’
“It’s the conversation that is happening around the Canadian population that hadn’t happened before.”
Most physicians don’t learn anything about cannabis in medical school, but many are anxious to educate themselves, said Alan Bell, a family physician, clinical researcher and professor at the University of Toronto. He recently gave a workshop to 200 doctors and ischair of a continuing medical education program on the topic accredited by the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
He agrees that more patients are asking about cannabis. “A patient walks in, says, ‘I have this pain. I’ve been using street marijuana; it helps me,’ ” says Bell. “The average physician is going to be at a loss. And as physicians we are very reluctant to authorize the use of any medications without adequate education. That’s a real barrier.
“But it’s an overcomeable barrier. We’re in early days.”
Cannabis industry consultant Eric Nash says he is not surprised by the increase in patients because demand is high. Before Health Canada introduced the system of licensed producers, it estimated that 450,000 Canadians would be signed up for medical cannabis by 2024.
There are also as many as 29,000 Canadians who are allowed to grow their own medical pot, either because they are covered by court injunctions or because they have registered since August, when Health Canada changed the rules again to allow home growing.
And many thousands more people are bypassing the legal system and buying marijuana at illegal dispensaries across the country. One dispensary umbrella group estimates that more than 300,000 Canadians shop at them — a credible estimate, given that a federal survey in 2011 found that 420,000 Canadians said they used marijuana for medical reasons.
Some dispensaries have knowledgeable staff and cater to patients who have a doctor’s prescription. Others sell to anyone over 19. All of them are stocked with products from the black market. It’s helped create a blurry line between medical and recreational use of marijuana. Customers at Ottawa dispensaries include patients who are also signed up to buy marijuana legally; people who are experimenting on their own with marijuana to help with everything from anxiety to arthritis; and others who just want to get high.
“It has the potential of making (medical marijuana) look like snake oil,” says Bell. “And I think that physicians must be cognizant of the fact that any medication they are going to prescribe, they should really be prescribing to therapeutic areas where there is evidence of benefit. It’s not sufficient if a patient comes in and says, ‘I want this stuff because I read on the Internet that it’s good for this, that or the other.’ ”
The number of patients using medical marijuana 455:
The number of Canadians authorized to possess medical marijuana in 2002, shortly after the federal government legalized it for the first time.
37,151: The number of Canadians authorized to possess medical marijuana by the end of 2013. Most patients grew their own.
12,409: The number of Canadians registered to buy marijuana from licensed producers by Sept. 30, 2014, after the government banned home growing. However, because of court injunctions, an estimated 28,000 people retained the right to possess or grow medical pot for themselves or others.*
18,512: The number of Canadians registered to buy marijuana from licensed producers by March 31, 2015.
30,537: The number of Canadians registered to buy marijuana from licensed producers by Sept. 30, 2015.
56,649: The number of Canadians registered to buy marijuana from licensed producers by March 31, 2016
98,460: The number of Canadians registered to buy marijuana from licensed producers by Sept. 30, 2016
1,161: The number of patients who registered with Health Canada to grow their own medical marijuana or have someone else do it for them between August and the end of October 2016, after the government changed the rules to once again allow home growing.
*The court injunction remains in place for those 28,000 people, as long as they don’t change their addresses or violate other terms of their old licences.
Miller – Post Media –
Published in the Vancouver Sun Monday December 12th 2016.