The objective of the regulatory amendments is to restore the possibility for practitioners to request access to restricted drugs through the Special Access Prog

The objective of the regulatory amendments is to restore the possibility for practitioners to request access to restricted drugs through the Special Access Program. In practice, this means that practitioners will, on behalf of patients with serious or life-threatening conditions, be able to request restricted drugs through the Special Access Program in instances where other therapies have failed, are unsuitable, or are not available in Canada. These amendments would also remove cocaine from the definition of “restricted drug,” so that all cocaine products are regulated as narcotics under the Narcotic Control Regulations. Regulating all cocaine products under the Narcotic Control Regulations will remove complexity for stakeholders applying to conduct or conducting activities with cocaine.