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Ontario doctors want to launch clinic devoted solely to medical marijuana

Ontario doctors want to launch clinic devoted solely to medical marijuana

An Ontario doctor and his partner are testing the waters for what could become Canada's first medical clinic devoted to treating patients with pot.

The National Post reports Dr. Danial Schecter and a colleague are taking careful steps to develop a practice that would assess patients for the suitability of medical marijuana prescriptions. The clinic would also act as a pot dispensary, the Post says.

Schecter currently operates something called Georgian Bay House Calls, which as the name suggests, sends doctors to the homes of people who can't come into to their office.

The Cannabinoid Medical Clinic isn't open yet, though it does have a web site. Schecter told the Post he and his partner are moving slowly.

“At the moment, we’re reticent to go full steam ahead … until we can get our lawyers to be more confident that we won’t be putting our licences and careers and livelihoods in jeopardy,” said Schecter, whose current practice is based in Midland, Ont.

“If physicians are seen making lots of money off of cannabis, that’s not going to look good.”

[ Related: Race is on for commercial medical pot business under new rules ]

Schecter only has to look at what happened to Dr. Rob Kamermans and his wife, Mary, of Coe Hill, Ont., who have been charged with issuing bogus medical marijuana licences to patients from Ontario to as far away as British Columbia and New Brunswick, the Hamilton Spectator reported last November.

The charges apparently are linked to a larger investigation of reputed Hamilton crime boss Andre Gravelle. Mary Kamermans told the Spectator they signed medical marijuana endorsements for some people named Gravelle but did not recognize the name.

The Post said Kamermans signed 4,000 medical pot approvals in just over a year and extra-billed for the service. Schecter told the Post he's seen some of Kamermans' patients and would not have prescribed pot to them.

“He went about it in the wrong way,” Schecter said. “I respect the fact he really put himself out there and tried to help people … [But] it’s too bad he didn’t take better care of himself.”

Schecter's move comes at a time of transition in the still-controversial field of medicinal marijuana. The federal government has introduced new rules governing medical pot that will be fully implemented by next March. The biggest change is the phasing out of home grow-op licences for medical marijuana in favour of licensed commercial producers.

[ Related: Ottawa tables final rules for medical marijuana, gives pharmacists a reprieve ]

Presumably, Schecter's clinic could dispense pot bought from one of these new commercial operations or apply to become a producer, cutting out the middleman.

Medicinal marijuana remains scientifically controversial. Although proponents tout the "evil weed" in treatment for everything from cancer to multiple sclerosis, the mainstream medical establishment remains skeptical.

A study done by Dr. Harold Kalant of the University of Toronto's Pharmacology Department and posted on the Parliament of Canada web site concluded cannabis has a long history as a therapeutic drug but more studies are needed to say conclusively that it has the benefits its advocates claim.

The Canadian Medical Association remains resolutely opposed to pot as a medicinal drug, the Post said.