PRESS RELEASE - 2nd SEPTEMBER 2003

Edition 5.

Cannabis News Items From Around the World

CANNABIS - 5000 YEARS AND STILL GOING STRONG.

PRESS CONFERENCE

PARLIAMENT HOUSE, SYDNEY, TUESDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER 2003

MEDICAL CANNABIS USE IN NSW

In anticipation of the release of the NSW Government's Exposure Bill on the Use of Cannabis for Medical Purposes, the NSW Medical Cannabis Information Service (MCIS) invites media and all Members of the NSW Parliament to attend a media information conference at 11:30am on Tuesday. Medical cannabis patients, doctors and carers will be at Parliament House from 10am next Tuesday morning 2nd of September 2003.

MCIS founder, Andrew Kavasilas said, "The Carr Government must adopt the fundamental requirements of the NSW Expert Working Party's recommendations on the medical use of cannabis".

"While Premier Bob Carr and the rest of Cabinet sat on reports and recommendations for almost 4 years, many people sat in pain, at the very least there are a few points that the Exposure Bill must address right from the start" said Mr Kavasilas.

- The NSW Government's Exposure Bill on the Use of Cannabis for Medical Purposes must ensure that Federal and International administrative and legislative steps are taken to enable all medical cannabis trials to proceed in NSW.

- NSW Health authorities and the new Office of Medical Cannabis should have sufficient authority and independence to ensure best immediate outcomes and ongoing facilitation of patient needs.

- Comprehensive interviews must be funded and undertaken with patients who currently use cannabis for medical purposes, as well as investigating other patient and patient groups who may be prepared to use cannabis and cannabinoid products for medical purposes.

-New Australian Pharmaceutical companies should be encouraged to explore the many new research and commercial opportunities during this new wave of whole cannabis medicine.

- Suitable legislation and policy options should be adopted so that patients authorised by an accredited medical practitioner, or the Office of Medical Cannabis can obtain access to a licit source and supply of cannabis seeds, and/or a sufficient ongoing supply of quality controlled, affordable dried cannabis.

For further information contact

Andrew Kavasilas
Medical Cannabis Information Service
Ph 6689 1968
Ah 6689 0199
In Sydney - Andrew Katelaris

Dutch to Prescribe Cannabis

By Geraldine Coughlan BBC correspondent in The Hague

From Monday, Dutch doctors will be able to prescribe medicinal cannabis to patients.

Soft-drug use is tolerated in the Netherlands, but for the past two years the government's Bureau for Medicinal Cannabis (BMC) has been researching the effect of the drug on patients.

Other countries, including the UK, are also considering allowing the sale of the drug in pharmacies.

Medicinal cannabis is intended as a pain reliever for cancer and Aids patients, and for people suffering from other illnesses, such as multiple sclerosis.

In line with United Nations narcotics regulations, the BMC is monitoring the cultivation and distribution of the drug.

Five-gram packets

The BMC has signed a contract with two marijuana growers to supply pharmacies. The drug will be sold in five-gram packets for around $50. Public-health insurers are to decide this week whether they will cover the costs.

The use of soft drugs is illegal but tolerated in the Netherlands, and cannabis is openly sold in so-called coffee shops. In March this year, the government changed the opium law to allow doctors to prescribe the drug through pharmacists. The Netherlands is co-operating with other countries who are researching the use of medicinal cannabis, including Canada, the United States, Britain, Switzerland and Belgium.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3196849.stm

Trust the Dutch to have compassion for some people with terminal cancer, multiple sclerosis and AIDS. These patients have been denied relief in the past because harm maximisers have wanted to draw a line in the sand to stop any attempt to develop more effective and rational policies for recreational cannabis. Medicinal use of cannabis is in line with reports from the US Institute of Medicine and UK House of Lords. Another milestone in the development of evidence based drug policy.

Medical marijuana goes on sale in Dutch pharmacies

Another take on the same story

By Isabel Conway in The Hague 01 September 2003

THE INDEPENDENT London 01-09-2003

Pharmacies in the Netherlands will stock cannabis from today. The Dutch are the first to permit cannabis to be legally dispensed to those with a doctor's prescription, and other countries - including Britain, parts of the US, Australia and Canada, where plans for a similar system are at an advanced stage - will be watching the Dutch experience closely.

More than 2,000 pharmacies in the Netherlands are legally obliged from todayto stock medical cannabis and dispense advice to users on the merits of brewing the mixture of dried parts of the hemp plant as a tea. They are also expected to provide instruction on how to become high by using it in combination with an inhaler.

Two strengths of cannabis, a stronger and a milder version, are to be available. Medical cannabis has been legal on a doctor's prescription since March in the Netherlands, but pharmacists were given more time as they grappled with the intricacies of soft drugs culture.

More than 10,000 patients with illnesses from rheumatoid arthritis to terminal cancer, multiple sclerosis and Aids are expected initially to be entitled to medical marijuana. It will cost *40 to *50 (£27 to £34) for a five-gram bag, which is more than double that charged in Dutch "coffee shops". The question of whether Dutch national health service (Ziekenfonds) patients can demand a refund remains in the balance.

In common with the 1,500 or so coffee shops that offer soft drugs, a maximum of five grams of cannabis will be allowed per transaction. But that is where comparisons end. The coffee shops operate in a grey area of the law, obtaining their supplies more often than not via shady criminal networks.

Medical cannabis is being distributed by a state-run bureau that has contracted two of the Netherlands' biggest marijuana growers to produce tightly controlled plants of a constant quality and supply the drug on demand. The initial state order was for 200kg.

A spokesman for the Health Ministry said: "Medical cannabis is rigorously controlled and tested for toxins, the presence of pesticides, metal etc, and it has to be kept at a constant quality. It is no longer a drug but a medicine, so the actual product cannot be compared to what people would buy over the counter in a coffee shop."

James Burton, director of the Institute of Medical Marijuana, one of the two official growers, said the medical cannabis was "a middle of the road" variety. It contains sufficient THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient) to relax patients and enhance the effects of existing medication.

Users are being warned by pharmacists to ensure they are not alone when using medical cannabis for the first time and to appreciate that they may become high or giddy. They are also warned not to take it with them on holidays abroad because of tough narcotics laws, or to ask foreign embassies in the Netherlands to provide a formal letter explaining that it is needed for medical reasons.

The main difference between the coffee shop cannabis and the state approved product is that the latter must never exceed the strength prescribed by the authorities.

Ger de Zwaan, who set up a cannabis mail order and home delivery service, accused the chemists of trying to rip off customers. More than 5,000 people receive regular supplies of cannabis cigarettes from him at a fraction of the prices to be charged by pharmacies. His oldest customer is 96.

"I send 60 joints to one Amsterdam nursing home every week. These are people who either cannot get out due to their debilitating illnesses or wouldn't dare enter a coffee shop, and now the state has told me I have to stop because the pharmacies are taking over," he said.

NSW CANNABIS MEDICAL USE

Subjects: Drugs: Illegal; Health; Research and Development; Medicine.
Speakers: Allan, Ms; Carr, Mr.
Version: Corrected Copy NSW Legislative Assembly Hansard Article No.8 of 20/05/2003. ( Page: 696 )
Speech Type: QWN; Questions Without Notice. (Many more links on site: click below.)

http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/HansArt.nsf/0/9e27a1a2c89aa5bbca256d36001baf0a?OpenDocument

Ms ALLAN: I direct my question to the Premier. What is the latest information on the use of cannabis for medical purposes and the relief of suffering in the seriously ill?

Mr CARR: I thank the honourable member for her question, and I note that the Toongabbie branch of the Country Women's Association—not a radical body—proposed just such a resolution at the association's annual conference two weeks ago and, remarkably, the vote was tied 312 to 312. The State President of the association commented that that was an amazing result. That change of attitude is a vindication of the Government's decision in 2000 to establish a working party on the use of cannabis for medical purposes. After a long period of careful deliberation, the Government now intends to establish a medicinal cannabis scheme in New South Wales. A draft exposure bill is being prepared that will provide for a four-year trial of the medical use of cannabis.

Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is far too much audible conversation in the Chamber.

Mr CARR: This is a compassionate scheme. It is directed at people like the 62-year-old man with bowel cancer who came to the attention of the working party. He uses cannabis to relieve pain and to beat the nausea that stops him from eating. He made this simple plea to the working party and to us as legislators:

I hope that you can come to a decision soon whether people can grow a plant or get it by prescription at least we could get rid of the bad feeling of being a criminal just because we want to live.

The proposed scheme will also help people like the man in his 80s who is suffering from prostate cancer. He had had radiation therapy and was losing weight. More tragically, he was losing the will to live. Eating marijuana biscuits helped bring back his appetite and strengthened his determination to fight the cancer. The July 2001 "Report on Consultation on the Findings and Recommendations of the Working Party on the Use of Cannabis for Medical Purposes" quotes his wife, who is also in her 80s. She said:

We were completely naive about this and disliked breaking the law to obtain supplies... but we had no choice.

As legislators, we will determine whether people such as those and their demands can be accommodated. We should bear in mind the acute suffering that afflicts people fighting cancer and undergoing radiation and chemotherapy. Medical evidence supports the proposition that, although harmful in other respects, marijuana can relieve suffering in a number of cases. We have an obligation to minimise human pain and distress wherever we can. Under the proposal approved by Cabinet, patients will be able to access cannabis through a new Office of Medicinal Cannabis to be established within the New South Wales Department of Health. Eligibility will, of necessity, be tightly defined. Patients will be required to demonstrate that conventional treatment will not relieve their suffering.

We are talking about people suffering from wasting due to cancer or HIV/AIDS, nausea from chemotherapy, severe or chronic pain, muscle spasticity due to multiple sclerosis, and spinal cord injuries. The Government's proposal will include strict safeguards, offences and penalties. For example, patients will be required to register annually with the Office of Medicinal Cannabis, and they will need to obtain a certificate from a doctor and prove that they have a genuine and continuing medical relationship with that doctor. In addition, people will not be able to register as a medicinal user if they have been convicted of an illicit drug offence in any jurisdiction other than for a minor personal use offence, if they are on parole, under 18 years of age or pregnant. 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.

Of particular interest is the work being done in the United Kingdom by GW Pharmaceuticals, which has developed a cannabis derivative that is sprayed under the tongue using an inhaler-type device. That medication, which was developed with the support of the United Kingdom Government, has been clinically trialled over the past three years. The company expects to submit a proposal to the British Medical Control Authority for approval as a prescription medicine. It could be ready for sale as early as the start of next year. I make one thing absolutely clear: The Government believes that the case against the decriminalisation of cannabis is stronger than ever. The most recent evidence that links cannabis use with mental illness is one part of that argument.

This measure is designed to assist a group of people who cannot be assisted by conventional treatment. The Government believes that we should make life less difficult for people such as those to whom I have referred, that is, those living with prostate and bowel cancer. This is something practical we can do to reduce the sum of misery in the world. The duty is imperative when it comes to an issue as complex as the use of cannabis. As legislators, we should be able to rise to this challenge. The complexity of an issue does not provide a licence to walk away while ordinary people suffer and acquire criminal records simply for treating their illness and relieving their suffering in the only way that works for them. With a sensible mixture of compassion and commonsense we can make a medical cannabis regime work in this State, as it works in other jurisdictions around the world. That is the Government's intention and I look forward to introducing the draft exposure bill at the earliest opportunity.

Medical Cannabis; NSW Government links

Recommended viewing::
http://www.druginfo.nsw.gov.au/druginfo/reports/MedicalCannabis.html

THAT'S ALL FOR NOW FOLKS!