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- 12 May 2004
Cannabis Medical Use
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Mr PAUL PEARCE: My question without notice is directed to the Premier. What is the latest information on the medicinal use of cannabis in New South Wales?
Mr BOB CARR: Honourable members would be well aware the Government has been carefully exploring options for a medicinal cannabis trial in this State. They have heard me talk often about the wracking pain of those whose suffering is so acute that conventional pain killers do not work any more and they are forced to use this substance. For example, I noted the comment by the honourable member for Gosford, speaking candidly about the loss of his brother, Anthony, to cancer and the relief cannabis might have brought him:
If cannabis had been there to help him I would have wanted him to have it. … I actually think marijuana to help people deal with the pain of terminal illness is a good thing. I don't see why it's a problem.
I believe, as do people of goodwill on all sides of politics, that it is the duty of governments to ensure people in that position receive every assistance available. That is backed up by clear and growing evidence from clinical trials that cannabis can assist patients suffering from nausea caused by cancer or HIV-related chemotherapy; muscle spasticity in multiple sclerosis; spinal cord injuries; wasting related to HIV; and severe and chronic pain associated with these medical conditions. For those reasons, medicinal cannabis legislation was introduced in Canada and the Netherlands in 2001 and 2002. In addition, eight States of the United States of America, including Colorado and Washington, have legislation allowing the use of cannabis for strictly medicinal purposes.
In light of that overseas experience, the New South Wales Government announced last May it would establish a new Office of Medicinal Cannabis within the New South Wales Department of Health. Under our proposed scheme eligibility will be tightly restricted to patients who can demonstrate that conventional treatment will not relieve their suffering; patients will be required to register annually with the Office of Medicinal Cannabis; they will need to obtain a certificate from a doctor with whom they have a genuine and continuing medical relationship; and the Government will work with medical, pharmaceutical and research institutions to examine a variety of options to ensure that registered medicinal users have access to the drug.
Since then we have been looking carefully at the complex medical, legal and constitutional issues around the provision of regulated access to medicinal cannabis—without in any way diminishing our determination to cut illicit cannabis use in the community, particularly in view of recent evidence linking prolonged cannabis use in young people to mental illness. To that end, we have consulted governments that have medicinal cannabis schemes. We have also talked to the United Kingdom Home Office about the progress of an inhaler spray being developed by the firm G W Pharmaceuticals. Our advice is that this product—which has been the brightest hope for a cannabis-based pharmaceutical—will not be available for a few years. So we must look at alternatives, otherwise we would be asking people to suffer without considering one of these options.
New South Wales is opposed to any scheme that involves growing cannabis in backyards or requiring sick people to buy the drug on the black market. Therefore we need to work with the Commonwealth to resolve issues relating specifically to Commonwealth jurisdiction, including customs legislation and therapeutic drugs approvals. The remaining alternatives—and I confess to some personal reservations—could include the importation, under strict conditions, of standardised cannabis products from reputable sources such as the Canadian Government. I have therefore today written to the Prime Minister requesting the Commonwealth's co-operation, in particular asking him to nominate a ministerial representative to work with New South Wales on this matter. In this regard, I am mindful of the Prime Minister's encouraging comments from last year when he said:
Well, in principle, providing it's prescribed and people aren't allowed to grow it. … I would in principle see merit in it for cases where there are no other conventional medicines available to reduce pain and to provide greater comfort.
He said that on 23 May 2003 on Radio 4BC, Brisbane. For those, like the Prime Minister and I, who detest illicit drugs and the evil they do, it is not easy to come to terms with the idea that cannabis can also have a valid therapeutic use in these cases. But the evidence says it can, and so I encourage the Prime Minister to take an evidence-based approach on the issue, setting aside any temptation to respond in a simplistic way that might deny hope of pain management and pain relief to hundreds of suffering Australians.
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