As legality for medical marijuana improves around the world, there are some hospitals in Canada already allowing patients to use this natural medicine. At the time of this study, two of them were Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke (CHUS), with Montréal’s Jewish General Hospital following soon after.
Palliative care is one area where marijuana is often considered, and CHUS formed a committee to review the science and ethics of its use under such conditions. Their policy recommending usage was unanimously approved by all 650 members of the hospital’s Council of Physicians, Dentists and Pharmacists.
At Montréal’s Jewish General Hospital, Dr. Michael Dworkind, director, Palliative Care Home Care said that prescribing cannabis has permitted him to roughly halve the amount of opioids being prescribed to palliative care patients.
