Medical Cannabis Bill Passes Parliament
Well it wasn't quick and I'm sure there will be amendments made as in the U.S., but finally there is movement at the station.
CANBERRA -- Australia has passed a medical marijuana bill to allow the cultivation of the drug, but the Greens say medical cannabis remains an illegal substance.
Health Minister Sussan Ley announced on Wednesday afternoon that amendments to the Narcotic Drugs Act -- passed through the House of Representatives on Tuesday -- had also successfully passed through the Senate.
The bill would allow access to medicinal cannabis products for people suffering from serious illness, by legislating the growing of cannabis for medical and scientific purposes. Products such as cannabis oil are used in the treatment of nausea during chemotherapy, chronic pain, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy and other neurological conditions.
"This is an historic day for Australia and the many advocates who have fought long and hard to challenge the stigma around medical cannabis products so genuine patients are no longer treated as criminals," Ley said in a statement.
"This is the missing piece in a patient's treatment journey and will now see seamless access to locally-produced cannabis products from farm to pharmacy."
"Under this scheme, a patient with a valid prescription can possess and use a medicinal cannabis product manufactured from cannabis plants legally cultivated in Australia".
Greens leader, Senator Richard Di Natale, spoke in the Senate on Wednesday in support of the bill, but denied that it was the "missing piece" to give medical access to cannabis products. He said the bill did not change the classification of cannabis and that it remained an illegal drug, despite the green light to grow the substance.
"It is one piece of the puzzle but there's lot more that needs to be done," Di Natale told media.
"[The bill] doesn't do anything about the distribution, supply, prescription of the drug... there's no legislation around how doctors will prescribe it."
"Ironically, medicinal cannabis is still an illegal drug."
In her statement, Ley said the government was "well-advanced" in downgrading cannabis to a lower level on the Poisons Schedule.
“This will simplify arrangements around the legal possession of medicinal cannabis products, placing them in the same category as restricted medicines such as morphine, rather than an illicit drug. This will in turn reduce any barriers to access, no matter what state a patient lives in,” she said.
Di Natale said the Greens would wait to assess how the bill operates in practice, but currently had a more detailed medical cannabis bill which they would introduce if they felt the government's bill did not go far enough.
"We reserve the right to reintroduce our legislation if progress is too slow.. if we don't see the drug make its way to pharmacies and then through to doctors, we will look at reintroducing legislation which does that," he said.
While the bill's passage has been praised on medical grounds, it does does not make any provision for recreational cannabis use. On announcing the government's intentions to introduce the bill back in October, Ley said: "This is not a debate about legalisation of cannabis. This is not about drugs. This is not a product you smoke. This has nothing to do with that."
During the senate debate, Senator David Leyonhjelm -- an avid supporter of legalisation of marijuana on medical and recreational grounds -- invoked Star Wars villain Darth Vader in his support of the bill.
For the record, his full quote read:
"Legalising recreational cannabis use would deprive organised crime, whether Middle Eastern crime gangs, Asian triads, bikie gangs or relatives of Darth Vader, of a major source of income, and relieve police of the cost of finding and destroying illicit crops. Of the $1.5 billion spent annually on drug law enforcement, 70% is attributable to cannabis. That’s an expense we do not need."
Grey Areas Uncovered In Medical Marijuana Law, Springfield, Illinois
I've republished this recent article to show that even the most stringent of U.S. laws have a certain amount of common sense.
Unlike the new Australian road drug testing, the Springfield, Illinois police use discretion and determine wether the driver is driving dangerous prior to arrest.
Australians drive under the influence of prescription drugs daily, drugs that make you weary, effect focus, effect reaction time and are obviously detrimental to driving.
Are they arrested and their driving license revoked? fined $1000? no.
One other thing, since when is driving slow a crime, it could be construde as cautious.
It's now an automatic DUI if you're caught driving under the influence with marijuana in your system.
Just four days after Springfield's first medical marijuana dispensary opened, controversial questions have come forward on how law enforcement will keep drivers under the influence from getting behind the wheel.
Illinois is calling the Medical Marijuana Pilot Program one of the strictest in the country. In order to legally buy the product, doctors must certify that the patient has one of the 39 conditions recognized by the state, but if you happen to get pulled over with marijuana in your system, it could cost you more than you bargained for.
"Just like with alcohol, if we see people weaving. People that can't really function at a normal level. They seem to be slow. They seem to be easily distracted," said Lt. Chris Mueller with Springfield Police Department.
If the officer has reason to believe you are under the influence, it's an automatic drug test.
"There will be a trip to the hospital for either a blood draw or urine sample," said Mueller.
Keep in mind: even if you didn't use medical marijuana that day, it can be in your system if use is regular. Therefore, high levels of tetrahydrocannabinol, better known as THC, can still be detected in your system. According to experts, THC is the chemical responsible for most of marijuana's euphoric-like effects.
"That's the gray area right now. That's what we need to muddle with. The law states that if you have THC in your system, then you're subject to a DUI arrest," said Mueller.
"It's a fat-soluble molecule. It stays in your fat cells. Patients who are larger and they have more tissue it will stay longer. So anywhere from 30-60 days," said Jay Cook with HCI Alternatives.
Cook says medical cannabis can impair your driving, but the side effects won't last.
"It depends on how many milligrams you consume. One inhalation of cannabis is anywhere from three to five milligrams.That can start to affect you in the first 15 minutes and can last you for the next couple of hours," said Cook.
Still, Springfield Police say any amount of THC found in your system is enough to issue you a DUI, even if its for medicinal purposes.
"What's the point of opening a dispensary if they will arrest you and give you a DUI? Even if you're under the influence, everybody knows marijuana stays in your system for 30 days," said Jonathan Hess a Springfield resident.
There is no law stating how much THC can be in your system, but right now there is legislation at the statehouse to come up with an amount of nannograms for determining the threshold of impairment.
reference: http://newschannel20.com/news/local/gray-areas-uncovered-in-medical-marijuana-law
Lower house pass medical cannabis laws
Australians suffering chronic illness are one step closer to accessing locally-grown cannabis under draft laws to enable safe and sustainable supply.
It will be interesting to see which direction this legislation goes and whether it will be an oligopoly of various big pharma businesses and therefore high prices for the medicine or something more organic and grass roots. I can't see the later happening, but that's what medicalmarijuana.com.au wants. 1$ a gram as in Uruguay, maybe $2 as this is Australia, one of the most expensive countries to live in.
Anyway, a bill to allow controlled cultivation of cannabis for medical and scientific reasons passed the lower house on Tuesday with bipartisan support and I guess that's a start.
"Controlled cultivation of cannabis" is the phrase in question.Will it be like in the UK and the company GW pharmacueticals (makers of Sativex) where the cannabis is grown in a military complex? and the cost of the medicine is exorbitant, more expensive than illegally purchased cannabis.
Several MPs recounted stories of Australians in their electorates whose chronic illnesses were aided by medical cannabis and who should be able to access the product more readily and safely.
If cannabis was a toxic substance, meaning there was a risk of overdose or death I could understand the concern for the "controlled cultivation" , but it's not! and that's a scientifically proven and anecdotally proven fact.
Do recreational cannabis users abuse cannabis? Yes!, but generally speaking it's through ignorance and yet even though it's abused, still no one dies as with alcohol, opiates and prescription drugs.
Recently, I was told by a friend that a dose of 20 aspirin in one go will kill you, but aspirin is available everywhere and to everybody.
Education and research on cannabis is what's needed, not the propaganda that's pervaded the public for the past 50 years. I might add, this propaganda was by the various governing bodies worldwide.
1)It doesn't cause mental health problems.
2) it's non-toxic and won't kill you.
3) It's very effective (based on anecdotal evidence) in a plethora of illnesses.
4) it can be and should be grown and sold in an organic form. WE don't need big Pharma!
5) and it should be cheap as in Uruguay so as to eliminate the criminal market! End the war on drugs, it's ridiculous, a waste of money, and causes more trouble than good.
“The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this.”
– Albert Einstein quote on Hemp....same applies to the war on drugs.
This is not about profits or it shouldn't be, this is a herb, not a drug and is completely safe, but we need to educate the public on how to use it, we need to be allowed to scientifically research it freely.
references from: http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/lower-house-tick-for-medical-cannabis-laws/news-story/085ce838854ea4948709560d456601a7
Originally published ( but extremely amended) as Lower house tick for medical cannabis laws
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