Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • COVID-19
    • Articles & podcasts
    • Blog posts
    • Collection
    • News
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • Classified ads
  • Authors
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
  • CMA Members
    • Overview for members
    • Earn CPD Credits
    • Print copies of CMAJ
    • Career Ad Discount
  • Subscribers
    • General information
    • View prices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN

User menu

Search

  • Advanced search
CMAJ
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN
CMAJ

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • COVID-19
    • Articles & podcasts
    • Blog posts
    • Collection
    • News
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • Classified ads
  • Authors
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
  • CMA Members
    • Overview for members
    • Earn CPD Credits
    • Print copies of CMAJ
    • Career Ad Discount
  • Subscribers
    • General information
    • View prices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
  • Visit CMAJ on Facebook
  • Follow CMAJ on Twitter
  • Follow CMAJ on Pinterest
  • Follow CMAJ on Youtube
  • Follow CMAJ on Instagram
Letters

The Canadian Medical Association should support a medical access stream for cannabis

Andrew B. Cooper
CMAJ December 18, 2017 189 (50) E1565; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.733488
Andrew B. Cooper
Physician, Department of Anesthesia, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

In their CMAJ commentary, Cairns and Kelly1 present scientific and policy arguments in support of maintaining separate medical and recreational streams of regulation within the proposed Cannabis Act. I would like to add arguments from a clinical perspective.

Safe and appropriate medical use of cannabis for patients is optimized by the physician–patient relationship. In not supporting a medical stream for cannabis, the position of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) seemingly dismisses the special benefits of medical engagement for risk reduction, monitoring of drug interactions, opiate substitution opportunities and education about occupational health and driving safety. Medical access to cannabis-based medication may be a factor associated with observed reductions in overdose death rates caused by opioid analgesics in the United States where medical cannabis laws have been enacted.2 Patients taking medical cannabis have reported reduced opiate use, sometimes along with reductions in use of co-analgesic or antidepressant drugs.3

People seeking medical benefits from cannabis cannot receive information relevant to their unique medical needs from nonmedical retail employees — regardless of how knowledgeable they might be about cannabis. With more than 130 000 patients using medical cannabis in Canada, to oppose medically supervised access at a policy level seems irresponsible.

Taking away the medical stream might be a disincentive for Canada’s licensed producers to produce medications that are safer to use than dried cannabis. The stigma, “that smell,” of smoked cannabis is well deserved. However, rejection of a medical access framework for cannabis should not linger, like a bad smell, as a legacy of the CMA.

Footnotes

  • Competing interests: Andrew Cooper receives peer-reviewed funding from the Canadian Medical Protective Association and is a current investor in Cannabix Technologies.

References

  1. ↵
    1. Cairns EA,
    2. Kelly MEM
    . Why support a separate medical access framework for cannabis? CMAJ 2017; 189:E927–8.
    OpenUrlFREE Full Text
  2. ↵
    1. Bachhuber MA,
    2. Saloner B,
    3. Cunningham CO,
    4. et al
    . Medical cannabis laws and opioid analgesic overdose mortality in the United States, 1999–2010. JAMA Intern Med 2014;174:1668–73.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  3. ↵
    1. Boehnke KF,
    2. Litinas E,
    3. Clauw DJ
    . Medical cannabis use is associated with decreased opiate medication use in a retrospective cross-sectional survey of patients with chronic pain. J Pain 2016; 17:739–44.
    OpenUrl
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Canadian Medical Association Journal: 189 (50)
CMAJ
Vol. 189, Issue 50
18 Dec 2017
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author

Article tools

Respond to this article
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
To sign up for email alerts or to access your current email alerts, enter your email address below:
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on CMAJ.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
The Canadian Medical Association should support a medical access stream for cannabis
(Your Name) has sent you a message from CMAJ
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the CMAJ web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
The Canadian Medical Association should support a medical access stream for cannabis
Andrew B. Cooper
CMAJ Dec 2017, 189 (50) E1565; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.733488

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
‍ Request Permissions
Share
The Canadian Medical Association should support a medical access stream for cannabis
Andrew B. Cooper
CMAJ Dec 2017, 189 (50) E1565; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.733488
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • Why support a separate medical access framework for cannabis?
  • The Canadian Medical Association and medical marijuana
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • The Canadian Medical Association and medical marijuana
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Highlighting obesity as a risk factor for endometrial cancer
  • Hepatitis B vaccination for Canadian children: time for an adult conversation
  • Codesigning a public health approach to preventing firearm-related suicide deaths with rural communities
Show more Letters

Similar Articles

Collections

  • Topics
    • Cannabis

Content

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Collections
  • Sections
  • Blog
  • Podcasts
  • Alerts
  • RSS
  • Early releases

Information for

  • Advertisers
  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • CMA Members
  • Media
  • Reprint requests
  • Subscribers

About

  • General Information
  • Journal staff
  • Editorial Board
  • Governance Council
  • Journal Oversight
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Copyright and Permissions

Copyright 2021, Joule Inc. or its licensors. All rights reserved. ISSN 1488-2329 (e) 0820-3946 (p)

All editorial matter in CMAJ represents the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Canadian Medical Association or its subsidiaries.

Powered by HighWire