Mum has to break the law

THE mother of a patient denied a medicinal cannabis prescription in the state’s historic first batch of approvals says she has no option but to continue to break the law.

Health Minister Michael Ferguson announced this week two of the three Tasmanian patients who had applied through their specialist to access medicinal cannabis products under the state’s new Controlled Access Scheme could now do so.

Mr Ferguson said in the case of the third patient, more clinical information was needed. The mother of that patient, epilepsy sufferer Jeremy Bester, said her son’s neurologist had applied for a prescription as soon as the legislation was introduced in September.

But Mrs Cleaver said the expert panel had decided her 26year-old son needed to try other pharmaceutical anticonvulsants before the application for medicinal cannabis could be reassessed.

Lyn Cleaver said her son was allergic to one of those drugs. The other had listed common side-effects including loss of co-ordination, agitation, trouble walking and loss of appetite, she said.

Jeremy weighs just 50kg and Mrs Cleaver said she was not prepared to put him through more hardship to appease regulators.

“I am really pleased for the two patients who will get relief under the new laws,” she said.

“But for our family, the process has proved a mess. We have been told Jeremy needs to go on another drug despite the fact we have already found one that works. If other anticonvulsants were effective, we would not put our family at risk of criminal charges by continuing to grow and administer medicinal cannabis products.”

Jeremy has had epilepsy since he was a young child. Multiple medicines have been prescribed but never Zonegran — which authorities have ruled he must now try.

Mrs Cleaver has been treating Jeremy’s condition with medicinal cannabis since 2014.

While she had hoped Tasmania’s new laws would streamline Jeremy’s treatment, Mrs Cleaver said she had not had much faith in the new system and took steps to ensure the family had the cannabis products needed.

“We put our plants in the ground last month because we had no answers at that time. We still don’t. It seems we are stuck between a rock and a hard place.”

Mr Ferguson said a lot of work had gone into ensuring Tasmanian patients were able to access unregistered cannabinoid products safely — after other treatment options had been tried unsuccessfully and with the support of specialist medical practitioners.

“It is important that a rigorous process is in place to examine applications to the Controlled Access Scheme, and anybody who thinks they may benefit from these products should discuss their situation with their GP,” Mr Ferguson said.

“The CAS is supported by the Tasmanian branch of the Royal Australian College of GPs, Epilepsy Tasmania and the AMA.”

Shadow attorney-general Lara Giddings said the rejection of the Cleavers’ application showed red tape continued to hinder patient progress.

“You have to question whether a scheme like this has been made ungainly on purpose when it requires a referral from a GP to a specialist and then mountains of paperwork, which also makes it, by design, restrictive,” he said.

She said a Labor government would decriminalise the use and possession of cannabis for medicinal purposes including epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and cancer as well as the treatment of chronic pain.