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Support grows for legalising cannabis as a medicine.
Evening Post - 12 March 1998
By CLAIRE GUYAN - Health reporter.
Pressure is growing for the Government to legalise cannabis as a
medicine after overwhelming support from health and education groups in a recent
Drug Foundation survey.
However, Associate Health Minister Roger Sowry said there was no
intention of changing the law to allow cannabis to be used therapeutically.
He said there was not enough evidence from overseas research to
persuade him that a change was needed.
But Drug Foundation director Chris Spence said the growing support
among members was something the country's decision makers should take notice of.
He planned to discuss it with Mr Sowry when they next met. . "They [members] are
a well-informd group and their opinions are important. If they feel strongly about
an issue, the people who make the decisions should be listening."
Two-thirds of the 102 groups which responded to the survey
supported the controlled use of cannabis for medicinal purposes. When surveyed last year,
just under half were in favour.
Mr Spence said overseas studies suggested that cannabis could help
in the treatment of some medical conditions, including glaucoma, multiple sclerosis and
nausea.
In England two cannabis drugs are licensed for the control of
nausea after chemotherapy.
New Zealand drug laws allow the Health Ministry to grant an
exemption for doctors to prescribe cannabis. However, no application has been successful.
In a statement the Ministry said it would only consider granting
approval to prescribe cannabis if it took place as part of a clinical trial. No such
application had been received.
However, researchers connected with Otago University are preparing
to study the effect of cannabis as an appetite stimulant, particularly for
cancer patients.
Senior lecturer Paul Fawcett said they had not yet applied for
approval and the work was in the early stages. If given the go-ahead, the cannabis would
be in a liquid form and taken orally.
Dr Fawcett said if cannabis had medical value it should be
researched. He could not say if that should then lead to its being legalised.
Researchers at the university are also studying whether an active
ingredient in cannabis can help treat glaucoma when administered in eyedrops.
Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party leader and Wellington lawyer
Michael Appleby said about half the people facing drugs charges who he represented were
taking cannabis for medicinal purposes.
He was keen to see an exemption, but said that so far all efforts
had been frustrated.
"I think it's just in the too hard basket. They see it as the thin
edge of the wedge."
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