Cannabis bill row
A Ministry of Health analysis of the National Party’s medicinal cannabis bill says it wouldn’t make cannabis products much more available than they already are, but National says the ministry is wrong.
The two-page review the Prime Minister’s Office provided to Stuff contains several criticisms of the members bill by the Health Ministry.
The main critique is that bill would not substantially increase access to cannabis products beyond what is already available, because it would not ‘‘deschedule’’ them from a controlled substances list for illegal drugs.
But the bill’s sponsor, Shane Reti, says the analysis is wrong because his bill would take cannabis-derived Cannabidiol (CBD) off the controlled substances list by making it ‘‘pharmacist-only medicine’’.
The analysis suggests the bill goes too far in another area – by allowing patients to repeatedly pick up cannabis products with a doctor-issued photo identity card instead of having to get a new prescription from their doctor.
‘‘The ministry recommends retaining the need to access medicinal cannabis products on prescription.
‘‘Clinical oversight of use of medicinal cannabis products is needed, as medicines may have side effects and contraindications with other medicines,’’ the analysts wrote.
‘‘The ministry recommends retaining the need to access medicinal cannabis products on prescription.’’ Analysts