Honourable Minister Anne McLellan
Minister of Health
Brooke Claxton Building
Tunney's Pasture
PL 0906C
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K9
Send by fax: (613) 952-1154
Dear Minister McLellan,
Recent announcements by Health Canada related to medicinal marihuana
have yet again greatly distressed many patients and doctors. Any prior
illusion of compassion has been lost for ailing patients with
distressing and often life-threatening conditions: patients who need
medicinal marihuana to control disabling symptoms and to improve their
quality of life now.
Two major events demonstrate a continuing and disturbing trend to forgo
any consideration of key stakeholders in policy decisions, and obvious
inconsistencies in stated government goals set out for medicinal
marihuana in Canada.
The first event was the recent announcement to distribute the Prairie
Plant System's crop of medicinal marihuana to qualified patients in the
form of seeds or dry plant material. This government action has yet
again pitted doctors and patients against each other. Doctors are being
called upon by Health Canada to be pharmacists and dispense medicinal
marihuana from their offices at their own personal and professional
risk. These are risks that doctors and their governing bodies would
never agree to given the risk for office break-ins and an invitation for
other criminal activity. In fact, these are risks that I, as a patient,
do not want in my doctor's office. In the end, patients are left with
no route through which medicinal marihuana can be distributed.
The second event was the closure of the Community Research Initiative of
Toronto's (CRIT) clinical trial on medicinal marihuana. Not only did
this move totally contradict your and Health Canada's publicly stated
commitment to clinical research on medicinal marihuana, it also forced
CRIT to close. The loss of CRIT, as the only AIDS organization in
Canada dedicated solely to HIV/AIDS community-based research, is a
tragedy. CRIT and HIV/AIDS communities worked tirelessly on mounting
this clinical trial. A landmark clinical trial such as this is taxing
on small community-based organizations that exist on thin funding. This
left CRIT very vulnerable as an organization, but the cause was more
important to both the HIV community and CRIT. A multitude of logistic
and administrative barriers to implementation have dogged this trial
from the start. I dare say the majority of these barriers were beyond
CRIT's control and were well known to Health Canada. Yet CRIT persisted
in trust and good faith. The closure of CRIT is a serious blow to both
clinical research on medicinal marihuana and community-based research in
Canada.
As a result of these events I no longer have faith in your ability to
understand compassion for seriously and chronically ill patients.
Further, I do not trust in your ability to provide leadership on this
portfolio.
I have decided to immediately resign my position on your Stakeholder
Advisory Committee on Medical Marihuana. As an AIDS patient, each
moment is valued so much at this time in my life. My continuing
commitment to the advisory committee would only be a waste of my time
and advice.
cc: Dr. R. Goyer, Chair, Stakeholder Advisory Committee on Medical
Marihuana
Beth Pieterson, Acting Director General, Drug Strategy and Controlled
Substances Programme
