(To be attached to the Medical Practitioner Form and Medical Specialist Form)

To Health Canada:

The Ontario Medical Association has written this open letter on behalf of physicians who wish to authorize a patient’s application for medical marijuana, yet who do not wish, or who do not feel sufficiently knowledgeable, to make the statements as required on the physicians authorization form.

The physician authorizing this application may believe that the use of marijuana will confer certain benefits to patients who have tried other therapies without success. There is, however, insufficient scientific research on medical marijuana to enable the physician to adequately explain to the patient all of the risks and benefits associated with using medical marijuana. We understand this is why the federal government has agreed to undertake new research to address these issues. In the absence of evidence-based guidelines, physicians may be unable to adequately assess and communicate risks and benefits to the patient, and may be unwilling to sign statements that they have done so.

If there are risks and/or benefits of medical marijuana of which the Minister may be aware, he or she may wish to outline them for this applicant.

The authorization process also places responsibility upon the physician to explain the significance of a Notice of Compliance to the patient. It is not reasonable to expect that a physician will be able to fully explain the significance of the federal regulatory procedure to the patient, and it should not be assumed that the physician has done so.

Due to the variability of potency of dried marijuana, unless an approved agency can certify the content, physicians are unable to specifically prescribe an amount. The patient’s symptom relief will be the best guide.

Therefore although physicians will complete parts of the form which attest to the condition, they may not be able to complete parts 3, 4 and 5. Physicians will in this way be following the advice of the Canadian Medical Protective Association, and at the same time providing Health Canada the necessary medical information about an applicant’s condition.