Once described as the devil's weed, cannabis is now being portrayed as our savior, at least for some.
And this evidence is not just anecdotal, there are thousands of scientific studies published on http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed with some amazing findings.
Anecdotally speaking; parents have given their children suffering from epilepsy, just a few drops of a cannabis tincture or cannabis oil (CBD) and the results have been beyond belief.
Children previously suffering multiple and sometimes hundreds of epileptic seizures every week, after being prescribed a cocktail of prescriptions drugs, are now almost seizure free on cannabis derived medication.
For the family and child, this must seem like a true miracle!
But the miracle doesn't stop here! (here's where I offer the free steak knives)
Medical cannabis has many potential beneficial effects. Evidence is moderate that it helps in chronic pain and muscle spasms. Lesser evidence supports its use for reducing nausea during chemotherapy, improving appetite in HIV/AIDS, improving sleep, and improving tics in Tourettes syndrome.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_cannabisAnecdotally the list of benefits is unbelievable, as seen here (the list is too long to mention)
We also know that THC and CBD kill cancer cells, but there's way more to it than that, this is preclinical evidence.

But the really amazing thing about cannabis is it's non-toxicity, it's not poisonous as so many other pharmaceutical drugs are.
Joe Rogan, the world famous pod caster and comedian, made the joke " the only way you can die from cannabis, is if the CIA are flying overhead and they accidentally drop 25kg out of the plane and it accidentally hits you on the head" And he's not wrong.

Professor David Nutt was employed by the British government to research cannabis and drug safety in general.
He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Academy of Medical Sciences. He holds visiting professorships in Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands. He is a past president of the British Association of Psychopharmacology and of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology.[9] He was the recipient of the 2013 John Maddox Prize[54] for promoting sound science and evidence on a matter of public interest, whilst facing difficulty or hostility in doing so. He is past president of the British Neuroscience Association and current president of the European Brain Council.[55]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Nutt

So his credentials are pretty impressive!
So were his findings after many years of research. Nutt published a controversial study on the harms of drug use in The Lancet.
The result revealed alcohol and tobacco to be more harmful than LSD, ecstasy and cannabis.

Now for the me the problem with LSD, ecstasy or any drug that comes in pill, liquid or powder form, is that you never really know what's in it. But cannabis is a different matter.
Cannabis can and should be grown outdoors under the sun and organically and if you know the strain of seed to grow, the outcome is predictable.

Also, considering David Nutt's findings and his qualifications, why shouldn't the Australian public and the rest of the world for that matter, be allowed to grow for medicinal purposes and to self medicate?
We brew our own beer, grow our own wine, we are grown-ups!

It's time for a referendum, Let the people have their say. The TGA and AMA and government for that matter, should not be involved in medical cannabis legislation, considering their ties with big pharma and the large yearly profits made.
We need an independent non-governmental research team, the best scientists available to study what cannabis can and can't do, and in the mean time, people with health issues should be allowed to grow and self medicate legally.

So this leads me to today's article in the Telegraph.

It’s all talk and no action on medicinal cannabis

The Government’s embracing of cannabis as the great green hope for our farmers is a classic case of framing themselves as helping make something evil turn into good.
As always, all is not as it seems.

So far, it means nothing for most and only offers a thread of hope for a chosen few.

These steps are more like marching on the spot than moving forward. At a distance, it looks effective, but in reality it is all just for show.

And what a show governments have put on: there was a sparkly announcement last year that the Queensland Government would be involved in a single trial of testing the efficacy of medicinal cannabis on children with severe epilepsy. Then the Federal Government said it would take steps to decriminalise the growing of the wonder plant for medical purposes.

Now the state says our laws, if and when they are eventually drafted, debated, voted on and enacted, will be the most progressive in the country and will open new industries and help the sick and dying.

But so far — nothing.

It smacks of 2003, when then NSW premier Bob Carr and then PM John Howard announced four years of medicinal cannabis clinical trials. They never happened.

Importantly, nothing has changed for the many already using medicinal cannabis oil and spray. No lifeline has been extended, no amnesty offered to create secure and legal lines of supply during the many years it will take for the tiniest changes to be made.

Pertinently, the talk around medicinal cannabis has all been around working with pharmaceutical companies.

This is a product that already has experts making it. It is already helping those willing to step outside the law.

And it is most effective when as close to its natural state as possible — no pill press, boxing conveyor belt or assembly line required.

All the Government needs to do is to legitimise and embrace the covert industry and its knowledge, not focus solely on legislation and economy ahead of health.

Last month, in response to a parliamentary e-petition to change the law to free up access to medicinal cannabis for those who need it now, Health Minister Cameron Dick reiterated that cannabis in all forms is illegal.

The Government is therefore being churlish and misleading in saying that they want to make medicinal cannabis available to more sick people. They could do that now, but they haven’t.

And they are wrong in indicating that the move on Tuesday will legally put medicinal cannabis under the tongues of Queenslanders who are sick or dying: the only thing it changes is that it lays out a possible legal route in which the state’s chief medical officer can give permission to individuals to be part of specific clinical trials.

That will not change the status quo — and too bad for the dying, who do not have time to wait for the world to change.

Dick said individuals who wanted to access medicinal cannabis now could apply to the Federal Government’s Therapeutic Goods Administration under its Special Access Scheme.

Just how many people have done that and how many were approved is unknown, but I would wager the answer is none.

The healing properties within the cannabis plant have been embraced for thousands of years. It has forever been food, clothing and medicine. The Declaration of Independence was drafted on hemp paper and early American flags were made from hemp cloth.

Its status was changed by magicians who turned the life-giving wonder plant into a demonic danger right before the public’s eyes 100 years ago.

We were all robbed of nature’s nutritious, healing gift, in all its forms.

I bought some hulled hemp seed at a natural food store the other day. Hemp seed is a complete vegetable protein, perfect for an active person like me.

Stuck on the front of the packaging is a warning that hemp seed has not been approved for human consumption in Australia and New Zealand.

We are islands in this — the rest of the world uses it as a key food for exercisers.

More action and less talk is required. We must shift out thinking, offer an amnesty to those already making medicinal cannabis and those who will use it before any legislative wheels might start turning. Medicinal cannabis can do no harm.

And we must have legal steps that make medicinal cannabis available to more than just a handful on a specific clinical trial.

Otherwise, the Government must stop hinting that medicinal cannabis will be Queensland farmers’ saving grace and broad hope for the sick and dying and, instead, be honest about it being pharmaceutical companies’ future new cash cow.

Jane Fynes-Clinton is a Queensland-based journalist.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
reference:http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/rendezview/its-all-talk-and-no-action-on-medicinal-cannabis/news-story/eb5ceb5136f17ecfc4ee580c71655c5d