The simple answer from my perspective is that we don't know. Marijuana is not the first line of treatment for any condition of which I'm aware. So when you're potentially using it, say, for chronic pain or multiple sclerosis, it's going to be because the patient has tried and failed with other conventional, evidence-based therapies and has not found improvement.
We're not saying that you can't use it in those conditions. In fact, this is one of the small elements of the previous regulations that we had no particular difficulty with, the fact that Health Canada had identified a list of conditions in which marijuana might be of benefit. The fact is that the new regulations make no such requirement, and we're in fact being told by Health Canada that they never looked to see what was on the form. They never checked to see if the patient had a condition for which it was a so-called “approved condition”.
We don't oppose our members using it as a last-line treatment when other treatments have failed and when you look at their condition. That's why in palliative care it's never been an issue. We all know there it's a matter of comfort because death is inevitable. The challenge is just that it's wide open now.