lol
My recent article about a new career in the marijuana field for former BC health minister Terry Lake caught the attention of marijuana legalization foes.
One of them, Pamela McColl, was so incensed about comments he made to me in an exclusive interview that she has fired off a letter of complaint to Health Canada. She argues that his comments about the effectiveness of medical marijuana for some conditions should be taken seriously “due to the risk of damage such remarks may have on the Canadian public, especially children suffering from epilepsy.”
McColl, who started a group called The Marijuana Victim’s Association Canada, has retained lawyers and plans to sue marijuana producers and/or the federal government when it introduces marijuana legalization legislation next year. She is also critical of me for allowing Lake to make his claims. To that I would say it was an on-deadline, breaking news type of story about Lake’s surprising new career, not a piece about the evidence (or lack of) for medicinal marijuana.
McColl specifically objects to these comments made by Dr. Lake (he’s a former veterinarian):
Here’s the entire letter McColl has sent this week to Health Canada:
“I am writing with a formal complaint against Terry Lake, the former Minister of Health of British Columbia, in regards to statements he made to the Canadian media over the efficacy of marijuana for medical purposes products on August 31, 2017. His remarks appeared in the Vancouver Sun newspaper. Of particular concern is the following statement made by Lake, who has also announced he has a new position with a licensed marijuana producer in the province of Quebec. Due to his stature in the community and as a representative of a federally licensed marijuana producer, Lake should be held accountable for his erroneous and potentially harmful remarks.
It is my understanding that Health Canada has specific guidelines as to what marijuana for medical purposes producers can and cannot claim of the efficacy of their products.
Said Terry Lake: “We certainly know it is efficacious for a number of illnesses like epilepsy in children, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis and post-traumatic stress disorder.”
(But) marijuana remains an experimental drug. Evidence based science does not substantiate marijuana efficacy for any of the conditions he has listed. The available science substantiates a link to the worsening of PTSD through the use of marijuana and not a benefit as Lake makes claim.
Health Canada on the consumer information website reads:
“Cannabis is not an approved therapeutic product and the provision of this information should not be interpreted as an endorsement of the use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes, or of marijuana generally, by Health Canada….There is no scientifically defined dose of cannabis for any specific medical condition.”
The potential serious implications of Lake’s recommendations to the consumer include the possible delay in patients seeking appropriate medical treatment for serious and potentially life threatening illnesses, and a potential for worsening of those illnesses by the marijuana products he is recommending.
It is requested that Health Canada contact Mr. Lake and ask that he provide the evidence of science that he is relying upon that would legitimate his statements. We request that he supply the evidence of dosage, duration, and THC and CBD content that he uses to make his claims of efficacy.
The public should also be concerned that the Vancouver Sun did not appear to have, or feel the need to possess, any medical documentation supporting the claims or any listed medical protocols, such as dose or duration, for the remedy of which Terry Lake advances. The Vancouver Sun should also be contacted and asked to clarify these remarks in the interest of public health and safety. This is specifically requested in light of Lake’s remarks on marijuana and efficacy associated with epilepsy in children.
Michael D. Privitera, M.D., former president of the American Epilepsy Society and director of the epilepsy center at the University of Cincinnati Neuroscience Institute, writes:
“The families and children moving to Colorado are receiving unregulated, highly variable artisanal preparations of cannabis oil prescribed, in most cases, by physicians with no training in pediatrics, neurology, or epilepsy. As a result, the epilepsy specialists in Colorado have been at the bedside of children having severe dystonic reactions and other movement disorders, developmental regression, intractable vomiting and worsening seizures that can be so severe they have to put the child into a coma to get the seizures to stop…. The Colorado team has also seen families who have gone into significant debt, paying hundreds of dollars a month for oils that do not appear to work for the vast majority. For all these reasons, not a single pediatric neurologist in Colorado recommends the use of artisanal cannabis preparations.”
Marijuana is not an approved medication, does not come in specific dosages or concentrations, and cannot be prescribed as defined by modern medical practise. In no case have any double-blind placebo-controlled trials demonstrated objectively measurable benefits from the whole plant, either for these purposes or for any medical application. To make a claim of efficacy is reckless and without merit.”
Pamela McColl
My recent article about a new career in the marijuana field for former BC health minister Terry Lake caught the attention of marijuana legalization foes.
One of them, Pamela McColl, was so incensed about comments he made to me in an exclusive interview that she has fired off a letter of complaint to Health Canada. She argues that his comments about the effectiveness of medical marijuana for some conditions should be taken seriously “due to the risk of damage such remarks may have on the Canadian public, especially children suffering from epilepsy.”
McColl, who started a group called The Marijuana Victim’s Association Canada, has retained lawyers and plans to sue marijuana producers and/or the federal government when it introduces marijuana legalization legislation next year. She is also critical of me for allowing Lake to make his claims. To that I would say it was an on-deadline, breaking news type of story about Lake’s surprising new career, not a piece about the evidence (or lack of) for medicinal marijuana.
McColl specifically objects to these comments made by Dr. Lake (he’s a former veterinarian):
Here’s the entire letter McColl has sent this week to Health Canada:
“I am writing with a formal complaint against Terry Lake, the former Minister of Health of British Columbia, in regards to statements he made to the Canadian media over the efficacy of marijuana for medical purposes products on August 31, 2017. His remarks appeared in the Vancouver Sun newspaper. Of particular concern is the following statement made by Lake, who has also announced he has a new position with a licensed marijuana producer in the province of Quebec. Due to his stature in the community and as a representative of a federally licensed marijuana producer, Lake should be held accountable for his erroneous and potentially harmful remarks.
It is my understanding that Health Canada has specific guidelines as to what marijuana for medical purposes producers can and cannot claim of the efficacy of their products.
Said Terry Lake: “We certainly know it is efficacious for a number of illnesses like epilepsy in children, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis and post-traumatic stress disorder.”
(But) marijuana remains an experimental drug. Evidence based science does not substantiate marijuana efficacy for any of the conditions he has listed. The available science substantiates a link to the worsening of PTSD through the use of marijuana and not a benefit as Lake makes claim.
Health Canada on the consumer information website reads:
“Cannabis is not an approved therapeutic product and the provision of this information should not be interpreted as an endorsement of the use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes, or of marijuana generally, by Health Canada….There is no scientifically defined dose of cannabis for any specific medical condition.”
The potential serious implications of Lake’s recommendations to the consumer include the possible delay in patients seeking appropriate medical treatment for serious and potentially life threatening illnesses, and a potential for worsening of those illnesses by the marijuana products he is recommending.
It is requested that Health Canada contact Mr. Lake and ask that he provide the evidence of science that he is relying upon that would legitimate his statements. We request that he supply the evidence of dosage, duration, and THC and CBD content that he uses to make his claims of efficacy.
The public should also be concerned that the Vancouver Sun did not appear to have, or feel the need to possess, any medical documentation supporting the claims or any listed medical protocols, such as dose or duration, for the remedy of which Terry Lake advances. The Vancouver Sun should also be contacted and asked to clarify these remarks in the interest of public health and safety. This is specifically requested in light of Lake’s remarks on marijuana and efficacy associated with epilepsy in children.
Michael D. Privitera, M.D., former president of the American Epilepsy Society and director of the epilepsy center at the University of Cincinnati Neuroscience Institute, writes:
“The families and children moving to Colorado are receiving unregulated, highly variable artisanal preparations of cannabis oil prescribed, in most cases, by physicians with no training in pediatrics, neurology, or epilepsy. As a result, the epilepsy specialists in Colorado have been at the bedside of children having severe dystonic reactions and other movement disorders, developmental regression, intractable vomiting and worsening seizures that can be so severe they have to put the child into a coma to get the seizures to stop…. The Colorado team has also seen families who have gone into significant debt, paying hundreds of dollars a month for oils that do not appear to work for the vast majority. For all these reasons, not a single pediatric neurologist in Colorado recommends the use of artisanal cannabis preparations.”
Marijuana is not an approved medication, does not come in specific dosages or concentrations, and cannot be prescribed as defined by modern medical practise. In no case have any double-blind placebo-controlled trials demonstrated objectively measurable benefits from the whole plant, either for these purposes or for any medical application. To make a claim of efficacy is reckless and without merit.”
Pamela McColl
