By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Democratic National Alliance’s (DNA) ex-leader yesterday slammed planned legal reforms for the distribution of medical marijuana as “an absurdity” and warned they could endanger patient lives.

Branville McCartney, whose family owns Wilmac’s Pharmacy, told Tribune Business he “100 percent supports” the Bahamas Pharmaceutical Association’s (BPA) push back against proposed Pharmacy Act changes that would allow medical marijuana to be issued by licensed “cannabis dispensers”.

Dr Marvin Smith, the Association’s president, has previously voiced concerns that these “dispensers” are not required to be licensed pharmacists or other qualified medical personnel, and the former DNA leader agreed it was “silly” for the Pharmacy (Amendment) Bill 2024 to permit “anybody off the street” to act in this capacity.

Asserting that this was “a complete no, no” for himself and other pharmacists, Mr McCartney said the term ‘medical marijuana’ itself implied that it should only be handled by certified, trained healthcare professionals given that those purchasing it are also likely to be on other drugs. This, he added, created a further risk to health and even life if “cannabis dispensers” were to get it wrong.

While the Bill mandates that pharmacists must have “supervision” over all cannabis dispensaries, Mr McCartney argued that it does not go far enough and should stipulate that the all “dispensers” should be licensed members of the profession.

“I totally agree with Dr Marvin Smith, who is the president of the Association and spoke about the issue where, under the Bill as presently drafted, anyone could be allowed to dispense medical marijuana,” Mr McCartney told Tribune Business.

“Medical marijuana is put in a category of drugs such as LSC and Ecstasy and the like, and must be supervised by a pharmacist. To allow anybody off the street to be licensed to dispense medical marijuana is certainly a disservice to the patient.”

While some observers will likely accuse Bahamian pharmacists of seeking to secure a monopoly over cannabis dispensaries and the distribution of medical marijuana, Mr McCartney joined Dr Smith in arguing that there are good and valid reasons for the Association and wider profession’s stance.

“How practical is that going to be?” he asked of licensed pharmacists supervising cannabis dispensers. “We lack pharmacists in The Bahamas as is. That’s not going to be practical. The category of drugs that medical marijuana will be placed under, even pharmacy techs cannot dispense that type of drugs. It has to be a pharmacist.

“Medical marijuana, in many cases, will not be dispensed in isolation. For persons with illnesses like cancer, medical marijuana will be in addition to the medications they take already. You need a pharmacist to oversee and ensure the dispensing of medical marijuana works in conjunction with the medications that people are already on.

“It’s silly to say the least that the Bill is crafted in a way that allows persons who are not pharmacists to dispense it. That’s a no, no. A complete no, no. A complete no, no.” Mr McCartney said his position might be different if The Bahamas was also permitting marijuana for recreational purposes, but argued that the term “medical” by itself meant something that was approved by licensed, certified healthcare professionals.

“It ought to be prescribed by a doctor and ought to be dispensed by a pharmacist,” he added, “not a pharmacy tech, not someone off the street who gets licensed as a cannabis dispenser under this Bill. There’s absolutely nothing about medical personnel being allowed to dispense it.

“That’s an absurdity and, quite frankly, is very dangerous for the patient.... You need a pharmacist that knows. Medical marijuana will be dispensed, and the consequences really could be dire effects for the patient which goes against the essence of why medical marijuana is introduced. It goes completely contrary to that.

“If they decide to do it this way, why not get persons off the street to dispense ecstasy or LSD? It’s the same principle. I am in 100 percent support of Dr Marvin Smith and the Pharmacy Association on this, 100 percent.”

Mr McCartney said “the main point” is that prescribing the wrong quantity of medical marijuana, or at all, could create complications for patients taking other medications. It could react badly, or trigger an allergic reaction, with other drugs that the patient is using, causing complications that - in a worst case scenario - could result in injury or death.

Asserting that such a situation is best prevented by mandating that only pharmacists or other qualified medical personnel serve as “cannabis dispensers”, Mr McCartney added: “Patients will be in jeopardy. And not only in jeopardy; it is something that could cause death.

“If the medical marijuana is dispensed along with other drugs, and it counters the other drugs being taken by the patient, it could lead to death. My God, for the life of me I do not understand why the Government does not consult fully with the professionals in the Pharmacy Association.

“I don’t understand why the Government, when they look at enacting a Bill, doesn’t speak to the pharmacists and the persons in the industry body. I don’t think they did that to any great extent with the Pharmacy Association. How silly can that be? They’re the legislators, not the professionals.”

However, the Bahamas Pharmacy Council, which is the body that governs, regulates and licences pharmacists in this nation, via an advertisement in yesterday’s newspapers contradicted the Association by arguing that the latter was “actively engaged in the consultative process” on the draft legislation which has now been tabled in the House of Assembly.

Mr McCartney, though, said of the Council’s May 16 letter, which was published under the name of its chairman, Robert Sands: “I don’t think the Pharmaceutical Association was in agreement with that letter sent out on behalf of the Council or the content of that letter. From my understanding, the Council wrote that letter without even discussing it with the Pharmaceutical Association.”

The reforms to the Pharmacy Act, via the Pharmacy (Amendment) Bill 2024, appear to give the profession much of what it wanted by placing all registered cannabis dispensaries under “the supervision” of licensed pharmacists.

The Bill, which has been tabled in the House of Assembly, stipulates: “No person shall, unless he is registered as a cannabis dispenser under the Health Professions Act (Chapter 233) make use of the title of ‘cannabis dispenser’.”

Then, through the insertion of a new section 10A into the existing Act, it mandates that pharmacists must have “supervision” over all cannabis dispensaries. “Every cannabis dispensary shall be under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist who shall be responsible for the oversight of the cannabis dispensary,” the Bill states.

“Specifically, this Bill seeks to provide for the establishment of a type of pharmacy to be known as a ‘cannabis dispensary’.”