A Nova Scotia doctor is facing charges of fraud and forgery, but this is not his first brush with the law. Dr. Dinesh Sinha (Sihn-Ha), who was arrested in connection with a pot bust last year, will appear in court on August 27on unrelated charges. He is accused of creating false records and billing the province for work that he did not do.
Sinha’s lawyer did not return phone calls so it is unclear how these charges came about, but the provincial government does do random checks to ensure that doctors are billing the province accurately. When asked about the charges, Sinha said that he had no comment.
College of Physicians and Surgeons lifts suspension
When Sinha was arrested on December 14, 2012, he was charged with selling prescriptions for medical marijuana. His license to practice medicine was temporarily suspended by the board in charge of disciplining doctors in Nova Scotia. In a phone interview, Dr. Douglas Grant, CEO of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia, said, “the suspension was lifted when the committee came to an agreement that the public safety concern had been addressed.” The charge against Sinha for selling medical marijuana prescriptions was eventually dropped.
The college has chosen not to suspend Sinha’s license again in view of these new charges of fraud and forgery. Grant would not comment on the new charges but he did say that the college will wait for the criminal proceedings to play out; then it will determine whether or not further action should be taken. The most serious penalty the college can impose is to revoke or annul a doctor’s license.
Physicians and medical marijuana laws
Sinha is not the first doctor to be nabbed by the long arm of the law in relation to medical marijuana prescriptions. Dr. Rob Kamermans was charged with selling medical marijuana prescriptions and accused of over-prescribing cannabis. He is allowed to practice, but is now restricted from prescribing pot.
In an exclusive interview, Sinha said that he would no longer prescribe medical marijuana despite being a firm believer in its benefits. That interview was conducted before he was confronted about the new charges.
Canada’s medical marijuana laws constantly changing
Canada started offering medical marijuana in 2001. Since then the medical marijuana laws have undergone several changes.
As it stands, patients who are prescribed medical marijuana by a physician have only two options: they can either apply to the government for a license to grow marijuana or they can get their prescribed marijuana from an already licensed grower.
Sinha wonders why the RCMP is so worried about marijuana. He says patients who use drugs like Demerol and morphine are at greater risk of developing addictions than those using marijuana, yet law enforcement does not seem to be concerned with how those drugs are being prescribed or used.
Sinha believes that seeing arrests and charges connected to medical marijuana will discourage doctors like him from prescribing marijuana, even though it may be a safer and more effective treatment for some patients such as those suffering from epilepsy, cancer, anorexia, and other ailments.
However, the number of medical marijuana users actually increased by 104 per cent between January and December 2012 and the number of people licensed to grow it has increased significantly as well.
What’s next for marijuana legislation?
Marijuana has been making headlines recently as Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau publicly advocated for legalizing the drug. Sinha is on the same page: “Alcohol is much more dangerous than marijuana, yet it is openly sold. I do not understand why the government is so picky about it [marijuana].”