OUT TO COMBAT ‘REEFER MADNESS’
GOLD Coast woman Debra Lynch is fighting two major battles this week — one in court, the other for the seat of Mermaid Beach in Saturday’s state election.
She says both are related to the need for state cannabis law reform.
A candidate for the Legalise Cannabis Queensland party, Ms Lynch faces five charges of producing and possessing a dangerous drug after her 2017 arrest.
The 60-year-old will step into magistrates court on Thursday to plead not guilty, just two days before she expects to head to the polls.
Under Queensland electoral law, a candidate is only disqualified if they have been convicted of an offence against the law of Queensland, another state or the commonwealth and sentenced to more than one year’s imprisonment in the past two years.
Ms Lynch said the case was a culmination of a three-year battle as a patient who was forced to provide her own cannabis medicine via home growing to treat her auto immune disease.
Ms Lynch said she was unable to afford the cost of prescription medicines — which she said would equate to more than her disability pension per month — and had been denied a prescription.
She believes her case has raised awareness about the inequality of the current system, which she claims provides mostly imported cannabis only to those who can afford it.
“Locally-grown corporate products are currently not meeting the needs of Australian patients as promised by Greg Hunt and the Industry back in 2018,” Ms Lynch said.
“Affordability of cannabis medicine is one of the main reasons I am standing as a candidate on Saturday. The laws need to be changed and we need voices inside the parliament to combat the reefer madness views of the ALP and the LNP.”
Ms Lynch said the case had served as a distraction during the campaign and taken up too much of her time, which she could have spent on the hustings.