Medical Cannabis Safety Concerns: Manitoba Report

A report from the University of Manitoba raises concerns about the safety of medicinal cannabis. The report points out that most Canadians who use cannabis for medicinal purposes do not have the proper medical license. Instead, they use the leisure market.

More than half of the 5,744 Canadians surveyed for the report said they had obtained medicinal cannabis without a doctor’s authorization.

Lead researcher Lynda Balneaves said, “This raises real safety concerns.”

The report suggests that people without a doctor’s clearance are 20 percent less likely to speak to a doctor. 16 percent tend to rely on “unqualified sources of information”. This includes anything you read online or what the “sales clerk” at a recreational cannabis store says.

Safety Concerns with Regulated Medical Cannabis?

Under the Cannabis Act, it is legal to grow cannabis at home and share it with friends and family. However, what you do in the privacy of your own home obviously affects others.

The lead researcher of this study on concerns about the safety of medicinal cannabis is concerned about the source of cannabis used for medicinal purposes.

“One concern is whether this product has gone through good manufacturing processes? Could there be a possible contamination? Is the labeling correct on this product regarding the amount of THC, the cannabinoid that gets people high? It may not be accurate, and that could potentially cause people to experience more side effects,” she said.

Of course, Health Canada regulates the authorized dispensing of medicinal cannabis. But consider:

1. What is a “good” manufacturing process? green sea? Organic? hydroponics?
2. Has Health Canada’s Bureaucratic Regulation Eliminated Contamination Issues? Of course not.
3. Has Health Canada’s bureaucratic regulation led to accurate product labeling? Apparently not.
4. What are the side effects of inaccurate THC levels? Poisoning Requiring a Hospital Visit? Death?

The most commonly reported side effects by survey participants were dry mouth and fatigue. Some had nausea, dizziness and vomiting. But those latter symptoms came from ingesting too much THC.

Why deal with medicinal cannabis?

Many believe that the distinction between “medical” and “recreational” is arbitrary and ultimately useless. All cannabis use is therapeutic. Why else use? What additional safety concerns are there specifically for medicinal cannabis?

Some people suffer from chronic pain, insomnia or anxiety. Others just want to relax after a long day at work. Whether your use is “medicinal,” “recreational,” or “therapeutic” depends on your state of mind.

In addition, the authorities tell us that cannabis does not have a drug identification number. That there is “insufficient evidence” that it helps with various diseases. It can even negatively impact clinical depression.

Still, people find relief with cannabis. And accessing recreational markets (and underground markets) is a hundred times easier than obtaining a medical clearance.

Additionally, less than six percent of those with a doctor’s clearance are reimbursed by their insurance coverage, according to the Manitoba report.

And half of those surveyed said they stopped relying on cannabis because it had become too expensive.

With data like this, is it any wonder Canada’s medicinal cannabis community favors underground markets?

Medical Cannabis Safety Concerns: The Report’s Recommendations

Lynda Balneaves, lead researcher for this report on medical cannabis safety concerns, thought the underground market was going away.

“I was kind of shocked that the market hasn’t stabilized in a way that supports people using a safe supply of medical cannabis,” she told media.

Of course, that shouldn’t come as a surprise. The 10mg THC cap on edibles is idiotic and guarantees medical patients will continue to patronize underground dispensaries.

The government’s cannabis excise tax not only hurts small to medium-sized producers, it offends the free choice of Canadians everywhere. In addition, it makes legal recreational markets unrealistic care options for medical patients.

But while Balneaves doesn’t see these issues as they appeared, although they appear “shocked,” along with the team behind the report, they have recommendations to improve access to medicinal cannabis.

The report on medical cannabis safety concerns suggests:

1. Design, implement and maintain a formalized assessment of the medical cannabis framework in consultation with patients and key experts
2. Maintaining adequate access to cannabis through a dedicated medical framework embedded in the Cannabis Regulation.
3. Implement changes to cannabis regulations, tax policies, and insurance forms to reduce costs associated with medical cannabis and divert use from the unregulated market.
4. Develop, implement and evaluate training for healthcare professionals focused on medicinal cannabis across the multidisciplinary healthcare team
5. Expand reasonable access to medicinal cannabis by adding community pharmacy dispensing.
6. Maintain and grow a federal resource center that provides updated, evidence-based information and resources on medicinal cannabis.

Concerns about the safety of medicinal cannabis: recommendations from the CLN

The report’s proposals are fairly mainstream and exactly what you would expect from a university publication.

So allow us to tweak these recommendations and fix the medicinal cannabis program once and for all.

1. Forget the experts

Design, implement and maintain a medical cannabis framework in consultation with patients and only patients. Canada’s medical community has heard enough of “key experts.” What was the result? The current regime.

2. Providing appropriate access through a medical framework

The report says keep it, but that implies the current approach is working. In reality, Health Canada will likely shut down the medical program altogether.

3. Implement changes to cannabis regulations

Namely the abolition of excise duty and the provision of medical cannabis with a DIN so that insurance companies cannot play dumb. So instead of “steering usage away from the unregulated market”, why not embrace this “unregulated” market? (See #5)

4. Subject: Education about medicinal cannabis

Yes, someone should educate healthcare professionals about medicinal cannabis. But who? And how? And should every doctor receive this training? What if some don’t want that? Can’t they turn to another doctor who can? Or are we going to force them into this “medical cannabis education class”? And with all the problems facing Canada’s healthcare system, is educating doctors about medical cannabis the best use of taxpayers’ money? This leads to a broader problem with Canada’s Soviet health care system in general.

5. Dispensing in the community pharmacy

We already had. Every level of government in this country has done everything in its power to abolish these medical dispensaries and replace them with top-down corporate storefronts.

And those who remain fight to survive. The Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club, for example, is almost 30 years old. They have over 8,600 members. They have been searched in the past but have beaten every charge in court.

Do you know why? Because they are not violent gangsters selling hard drugs. They are members of the community offering safe medicinal cannabis to low-income, disabled and other marginalized citizens of this country.

But thanks to the out-of-court Community Safety Unit, this locally operated medical dispensary faces a $6 million fine.

Do you want to repair medical cannabis in Canada? Concerned about the safety of medical cannabis? Then legalize the VCBC. Empower BC Bud growers to create their own industry standards.

6. Get the federal government out of the cannabis business

Medical Cannabis Safety Report proposes maintaining and expanding the federal government’s cannabis hub. We recommend getting the federal government out of the cannabis business altogether.

Not only with medical cannabis, but also with recreational ones.

The last thing we need is more cannabis propaganda from the federal government, paid for by taxpayers who can barely afford their grocery bills.

Even when cannabis information is accurate, special interests are always available to capture the process.

For years, cannabis was a highly addictive narcotic with no medicinal or scientific value. Now it has medicinal and scientific value, but it’s still very addictive, so it needs to be properly regulated.

For your own good.

Final Thoughts on Medical Cannabis Safety Concerns

The only concerns about the safety of medicinal cannabis are the increasing government monopolization of the narrative. Anything that doesn’t fit their 3×5 map of permissible opinion is “misinformation.”

Overall, this report offers some insight into the struggle medical cannabis patients face every day. But like most university publications that speak of “lived experience” as a valid means of acquiring knowledge, this report offers no viable solutions.

Medical cannabis patients need access to free and fair markets. The concerns about the safety of medicinal cannabis expressed in this report stem from ignoring that reality.