MPs of all stripes in push to make medicinal marijuana legal (AUS)

[CLICKHEREx]

http://www.bluelight.org/vb/threads/726567-MPs-of-all-stripes-in-push-to-make-medicinal-marijuana-legal-(AUS)

bit_pattern View Profile View Forum Posts Private Message View Blog Entries View Articles Add as Contact
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Posts 6,482 Yesterday 00:43 Sharman Stone is on the opposite side of the political divide to me & while I don't always agree with her she is a good egg & a bloody good local representative

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MPs of all stripes in push to make medicinal marijuana legal
Date
June 19, 2014 - 11:06AM

A multi-party group of federal MPs will on Thursday launch a push to make cannabis legally available for medicinal purposes.

The parliamentary group on drug policy and law reform, convened by Labor, Liberal and Green MPs will begin advancing the issue with a discussion in Parliament House including Lucy Haslam, whose 24-year-old son Dan has terminal cancer and takes cannabis – illegally – to treat the nausea associated with his chemotherapy.

One of the convenors of the group, Liberal MP Sharman Stone, said the nation should seriously consider how cannabis might be provided to people to promote health or reduce suffering.

''If this product really works in the sense of reducing pain or improving the mobility or other health outcomes for some people and it can be administered under medical supervision, then it would be terrible to think we denied people access to that product,'' she told Fairfax Media.

Dr Stone also said the nation should explore the potential of hemp – a variety of cannabis plant which produces, oil, seeds and fibre – as an alternative crop for farmers.

''It's one of those things that should be almost a no-brainer, instead of being too hot to handle, and so our growers miss out on an opportunity to make themselves less dependent on a single crop and to make more money,'' Dr Stone said.

Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce, whose seat of New England is home to the Haslams, recently met the family and formed the view that just as opium had long been used to relieve pain, ''there may now be a place for the medicinal properties of cannabis''.

''Provided it is approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration and is medically supervised it should be considered,'' Mr Joyce said.

Labor MP Melissa Parke, a co-convenor of the group of MPs, said it was ''time for Australia to move forward on this issue''.

''There is substantial and growing evidence of the medicinal value of cannabis, particularly as symptomatic relief in circumstances where no other drug is effective, but also for its curative potential,'' Ms Parke said.

''We can't allow a cultural stigma to prevent fair recognition and properly regulated use of a naturally derived substance that provides relief to people in terrible pain, or the prospect of a reprieve from serious illness.''

Another co-convenor of the group, Greens Senator Richard Di Natale, who is also a medical doctor, said cannabis had been shown to be effective in relieving nausea, stimulating appetite and treating muscle spasms.

''It's a drug, like any other drug, that needs to be tightly regulated, but to deny somebody who is suffering with a terminal illness effective medication . . . is shameful,'' Senator Di Natale said.

''It's done because people are too worried by the stigma associated with cannabis. They don't have the courage to look at the science and the evidence, which is very clear.''

Senator Di Natale said the federal government could licence growers of cannabis and allow the drug to be dispensed by pharmacies.

Mrs Haslam said cannabis had been a ''game changer'' for her son, relieving his extreme nausea and allowing him to regain weight.

''This is the one and only thing giving him an element of hope,'' she said.

The Australian Medical Association acknowledges that cannabis ''has constituents that have potential therapeutic uses,'' and these should be made available to patients if clinical trials established that they were safe and effective.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politi...#ixzz3569iwrlj

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#2 bit_pattern View Profile View Forum Posts Private Message View Blog Entries View Articles Add as Contact
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Posts 6,482 Yesterday 01:20

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#3 Crankinit View Profile View Forum Posts Private Message View Blog Entries View Articles Add as Contact
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Posts 5,240 Yesterday 02:20 Finally our politicians are getting off their asses and following America's lead like the good like lapdogs they are.

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#4 poledriver View Profile View Forum Posts Private Message View Blog Entries View Articles Add as Contact
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Posts 8,188 Yesterday 13:00 Mods, could you pls merge the thread I did on this same subject 4 days ago into this one?

http://www.bluelight.org/vb/threads/...r-for-patients

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#5 poledriver View Profile View Forum Posts Private Message View Blog Entries View Articles Add as Contact
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Posts 8,188 Yesterday 13:04 And I think if it is made legal for medicinal anywhere in Aus it will have the same type of restrictions that NY's recent one has (this is taken from theirs) -

It would permit only doctors to prescribe marijuana, in forms including oil-based and vapor, to individuals with any of about a half-dozen conditions, including cancer, AIDS, epilepsy and multiple sclerosis.

But it wouldn't legalize smokable forms of the drug, making the effort much narrower in scope than many other medical-marijuana laws around the country. And it would allow the governor, upon recommendation by the state police superintendent or health commissioner, to suspend the program at any time.

It would also automatically expire after seven years, at which time the Legislature and governor could reauthorize the program.

"Medical marijuana has the capacity to do a lot of good for a lot of people who are in pain and suffering," Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, said at a Capitol news conference. "At the same time, it's a difficult issue, because there are also risks that have to be averted—public-health, public-safety risks. And we believe this bill strikes the right balance."

The plan would make New York the 23rd state to legalize at least some forms of marijuana for medicinal purposes, and the second—in addition to Minnesota—to do so while also banning smokable forms.

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#6 poledriver View Profile View Forum Posts Private Message View Blog Entries View Articles Add as Contact
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Posts 8,188 Yesterday 13:07 But still it's great, we have to start somewhere and giving those people who really need it the most easy access is awesome, I hope it happens.

Hopefully that happens first then over time cannabis is more and more accepted and then legalised for everyone over 18! (I can dream)....

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#7 Crankinit View Profile View Forum Posts Private Message View Blog Entries View Articles Add as Contact
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Posts 5,240 Yesterday 15:20 Yeah it's a step in the right direction.

Honestly, I've always thought the sale of smokable marijuana for medical use is a little absurd. I know too many heavy stoners who've had collapsed lungs in their early 20's to be convinced that weed smoke is harmless to the lungs. It's like giving a pile of opium and a big pipe to pain patients. For medical use, it makes much more sense to stick with edibles, or, if the patient needs immediate relief, vaporizing.

The opiate comparison is interesting, because I'm torn between being very interested to see what could be produced if they started isolating the different chemicals in marijuana and using them as medicines, and my distaste for the process being handed over to the pharmaceutical industry.

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#8 poledriver View Profile View Forum Posts Private Message View Blog Entries View Articles Add as Contact
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Posts 8,188 Yesterday 15:37 Yeah it is really (smoking it) I have had a collapsed lung from bongs (mine was 7 odd yrs ago now).

I'd personally be happy to see it sold legally eventually to everyone in liquid or edible form only. Proper THC and CBD labelling of content.

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#9 pmoseman View Profile View Forum Posts Private Message View Blog Entries View Articles Add as Contact
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Posts 1,198 Today 01:40 Originally Posted by Crankinit
...my distaste for the process being handed over to the pharmaceutical industry.
Isn't this like being pissed that Burger King gets to make all those burgers? That is a struggle without end.

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#10 spacejunk View Profile View Forum Posts Private Message View Blog Entries View Articles Add as Contact
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Posts 3,537 Today 01:55 ^I don't see any correlation there whatsoever.
Herbs that grow happily in most climates needn't be put in the domain of Big Pharma's exploitative corporate practices.

Hopefully with selective breeding and simple-to-make-at-home extracts (tinctures, oil, butter rich in THC, CBD or both) will see this remain a cottage industry, if it takes off.
Medically approved synthetic cannabinoids introduced in the last ~20 years never really took off (except as "legal highs" or grey-market RCs) - consensus anongst patients seemed to indicate that they were nowhere near as effective as natural cannabis products.

I agree somewhat with the idea that "smoking weed" may not be particularly medically sound - but vaporisers seem pretty safe to me.
Perhaps a script for a few grams of nice bud and a Magic Flight Launch Box vape could be the new prescription. I certainly find cannabis helps my insomnia better than any prescription pills (except melatonin perhaps) - but I can't see conservative Australia following the California model (let alone CO or WA's models...)

Fantastic to see this finally being discussed, however.

Time to start lobbying your local MPs, Australian friends!

[Sallubrious]

''If this product really works in the sense of reducing pain or improving the mobility or other health outcomes for some people and it can be administered under medical supervision, then it would be terrible to think we denied people access to that product,''

So now we need a doctor to show us how to use a bong or light a joint.

Everything Joyce said shows us how it will pan out. They want this to be owned by big pharma, it wouldn't surprise me at all if pharmaceutical companies are paying for the recent spate of propaganda in support of this corporate owned model that Barnaby wants.

Fuck the liberals and their greedy corporate morals, this weed belongs to humanity not a world killing soulless corporate entity.

I'm sick of this liberal attitude where everyone is treated like a mindless child.

[Meditator]

The first thing I thought was "I wonder what laws they have changed to benefit from this"

I think they've been planning this for a while. But in order to maximize their benefit they would need to change a bunch of laws to tie up loopholes and make shit harder for everyone. Like new taxes and regulations.

Can anybody with knowledge in this area tell me if I'm right?

I mean if this actually mattered to them, for the people they would have passed a medical regulation a decade ago. Or atleast within the last 3 years.

Edited June 21, 2014 by Meditator

[Strontium Dawg]

Yep, take a safe herbal product used for thousands of years, then extract and refine it or even just synthesise parts of it, to make sure it's as far removed as possible from what nature intended...

[Slocombe]

Individual States and Territories have their own drug laws. The Federal Government can change Federal law, but it takes changes to the law at State level to give effect to the change.

[Meditator]

Yeah.. Dude good quality marijuana of the right kind for a sick person can be the best medicine because the marijuana plants love synthesis the perfect mix. It's chemical makeup balances itself out.

Too much pure THC is not good for some. It does have side effects for a lot of people. But other cannabanoids counteract the side effects with their own medicinal effect and brings balance to the system. Taking a whole round of chemicals to counter act eachothers side effects just to treat one problem looks stupid when the correct strain of mj will not only treat the symptoms but help heal the patient...

Unless the extract is a honey oil and not a single chemical it's just like taking a Medication. Marijuana is medicine.. Medication is not.

And meditation rhymes