From Toques to Tokes: Two challenges facing nationwide legalization of cannabis in Canada

BackgroundIn 2015, a new Liberal Government came to power in Canada, elected on a platform that included legalization and regulation of cannabis for recreational purposes. Their legislation, based on recommendations from a Federal Task Force on Marijuana Legalization and Regulation, is due in early April 2017.MethodsThis commentary utilizes Canadian Federal policy papers, previous literature, and internal and international agreements to examine two key areas critical to the development of a nationwide regulated market for cannabis in Canada; the need to overcome restrictions to legalizing cannabis in United Nations’ drug control treaties, and the unique challenges that non-medical cannabis creates for navigating interprovincial trade policies in Canada.ResultsIrrespective of UN conventions that appear to prohibit legalization of cannabis the Government is preparing to bring forward legislation as this article goes to print. At the same time significant squabbles impede the selling of even beer and wine inter-provincially in Canada. This paper identifies the challenges facing Canadian legalization efforts, but also shows how the legalization legislation may provide opportunities to engender significant change beyond the simple legalization of a specific drug.ConclusionThis commentary does not argue for any specific course of action for Canada, but rather explores the nuance of legalization absent from the declaration in the Liberal party platform. The paper argues that Canada’s efforts may hasten the dismantling of the UN drug control structure, and provide renewed opportunities for intern-provincial trade in Canada.     

Interprovincial spoke-to-hub transport using the Impella Recover LP 5.0 left ventricular assist device as a bridge to long-term circulatory support

Current hospital administrative practices categorize health care centres in a network of  'spokes' (primary care centres) and 'hubs' (tertiary care centres). For the treatment of cardiogenic shock, long-term left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) and transplant therapies are only used at a few hub centres nationwide and are, thus, only available to patients living in close proximity to these centres. The relatively lower technical requirements of the Impella Recover LP 5.0 LVAD (ABIOMED Inc, USA) translate into greater use by spoke centres for the short-term treatment of cardiogenic shock, and facilitate appropriate stabilization and subsequent transportation to a suitable hub centre. Based on a review of the literature, the present report describes the first case demonstrating successful use of the Impella Recover LP 5.0 LVAD, implanted under local anesthetic, for the purposes of interprovincial spoke-to-hub transport in a bridge-to-bridge-to-transplant procedure. By providing an economical and technically straightforward alternative to traditional extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, the present case demonstrates that less invasive LVADs are valuable to the spoke-and-hub model for delivery of specialized cardiac care.     

中国2011－2015年跨省流动HIV/AIDS免费抗病毒治疗现状及影响因素分析

目的 分析我国跨省流动艾滋病病毒感染者/艾滋病患者（HIV/AIDS）免费抗病毒治疗现状及其影响因素。方法 利用2011－2015年全国艾滋病综合防治信息系统工作数据,采用描述性和趋势检验分析跨省流动HIV/AIDS抗病毒治疗历年变化趋势和主要特征,logistic回归分析探讨影响该人群抗病毒治疗覆盖面的主要因素。结果 跨省流动HIV/AIDS占比从2011年的7.1%（17 784/250 645）提高到2015年的10.3%（54 596/528 226）（Z=51.38,P<0.000 1）,跨省流动HIV/AIDS抗病毒治疗比例由2011年的37.3%（6 641/17 784）逐步上升到2015年的71.0%（38 783/54 596）（Z=96.23,P<0.000 1）,已与2015年非跨省流动HIV/AIDS抗病毒治疗比例接近（71.5%,338 654/473 630）。多因素logistic回归分析显示,跨省流动HIV/AIDS中,女性、≥50岁年龄组、汉族、已婚/有配偶、高中/中专及以上文化程度、男男性行为感染、首次随访CD₄⁺T淋巴细胞计数≤500个/μl、通过医疗机构检测或重点人群检测发现HIV感染者、现住址在城市者抗病毒治疗比例较高。结论 不同特征的跨省流动HIV/AIDS抗病毒治疗比例不同,需采取有效措施进一步扩大抗病毒治疗覆盖面,尽早将跨省流动HIV/AIDS纳入抗病毒治疗规范化管理系统。