Québec doctors to study medical marijuana

The Collège des médecins du Québec has made participation in a research project a requirement for doctors who wish to prescribe medical marijuana in the province.

While marijuana is not an approved or licensed drug, a court ruling requires that it be available to patients if approved by a doctor. On 1 April federal regulations came into effect that shifted the responsibility for determining whether a patient was eligible from Health Canada onto individual physicians. Many are concerned that there has been little research done on the medicinal effects and health dangers of dried marijuana, so the college, which licenses physicians in the province, decided to set up a research programme.

Yves Robert, secretary of the order of the college, said, "With the collaboration of researchers in Québec, in particular those at the Canadian Consortium for the Investigation of Cannabinoids, the college is actively working on developing practical tools that will allow physicians to participate in creating a database for research purposes. This database may be used, in particular, in the development of a drug monitoring programme."