Legal pot won't slow market for medical marijuana: advocate

Medical marijuana advocates say the number of patients using medical cannabis will continue to grow even when the drug becomes legal for recreational use.

The federal government has said it intends to see recreational pot use legalized by July 1, andSaskatchewan announced earlier this week that it will be sold in 60licensedstores across the province.

But medical cannabis is already prescribed to thousands of people across Canada to treat everything from pain todisorders like Crohn's disease.

While many patients wanting to take cannabis to treat ailments might soon turn to storefronts to buy thedrug, the market for medical marijuana isn't going to end, according to one advocate.

"Certainly there is going to be a huge market for recreational but I think people who are specifically trying to deal with ailments want somebody who they can confide in and trust," saidKait Shane, director of community outreachwith Natural Health Services, which offerscannabis prescriptionsand operates clinics in several cities, includingSaskatoon.

Shanesaid even as patients buy cannabis from stores without prescriptions,she hopes legalization will goa long way to legitimizing the drug especially in provinces like Saskatchewan with a shortage of doctors willing to write cannabis prescriptions.

"The people will go wherever they need to go, but ideally more doctors will recognize that it's a valid form of treatment and yes, it's a respectable form of treatment."

More people may self-medicate

Bryan Salte, the associate registrar and legal counsel forthe College of Physicians and Surgeonsof Saskatchewan, said doctors will have to wait and see whether or not more people turn to self-medicating once the drug is legalized.

"My guess would be that fewer patientsare going to going to seek prescriptions for marijuana if they can access it themselves on their own terms and based on their on conclusions," Salte said.

He saidthere are no concrete numbers to rely on to prove that, and that the college is sill waiting on Health Canada to provide accurate data on how many doctors are currently prescribing the drug in this province.

But,Saltesaid, legal cannabis will be treated by the college the same way alcohol is. The only real difference is there is a now a policy in Saskatchewan for doctors who think it would be an effective treatment.

"We similarly don't take a position on what individuals ought to do if they are accessing cannabis for recreational purposes or self-diagnosing and administering marijuana themselves without the involvement of a physicians," he said.

Insurance, taxes still on the table

But the pending legal market does raise some thorny issues for medical users.

Medical marijuana patients have already raised flags about the province's suggestion of a "zero-tolerance" policy for driving under the influence of marijuana. Some have argued if they need to use the drug daily to fight a disease, they shouldstill be allowed to drive.

There are other issues as well. Will there be a different tax model for people with a medical prescription versus people who want to simply use the drug recreationally?

In that case, Salte says, people will likely want prescriptions if that means they can get pot cheaper.

Shane says she knows there are advocates fightingextra taxes on medical cannabis and she envisions a day not too far away when medical cannabis is covered by insurance company drug plans.

"That's another great reason for people to want to stay in the medicinal field, beyond the consultations with specialized doctors," she said.

She said the problem for insurance companies is that medical marijuana doesn't have a drug identification number a classification that requires going through therigorous, expensive approval process required of all new drugs.

She sayssome companies'health spending accounts will already cover some of the costs associated with cannabis treatments.