Dope hope up in smoke
Black market ‘only way’ to meet medicinal cannabis need
MEDICINAL cannabis campaigners say more users than ever will be forced underground on the Gold Coast, despite promises from the Federal Government to legalise the growth and supply of the drug this year.
Medicinal Cannabis Users of Australia secretary Debra Lynch said the Government had underestimated the need for the drug and she believed demand would outstrip supply, forcing users to turn to the black market.
The Runaway Bay local said Queensland campaigners were warned earlier this year the number of permits to be issued to cultivators and manufacturers from November would be minimal.
“They want to provide a standardised medicine that has standardised doses and although that is achievable from a pharmaceutical perspective, it’s not going to be effective,” she said.
“The proposed laws are a farce. The Government is feed- ing glorified stories to media when in actuality these laws deny the majority of patients cannabis medicine and will drive patients back underground in order to successfully treat their illnesses.”
The federal legislation allowing cultivation and manufacture of cannabis products will be in place on October 30 but the process for a permit to enter the industry will be rigorous and lengthy.
Ms Lynch suffers from a connective tissue disease called scleroderma as well as chronic back pain and a number of other conditions.
She said hempseed, coconut oil infused with cannabis and smoking the drug were the only ways she had successfully been able to manage her pain.
The mother-of-six said although Australians were able to import the drug, it was too costly for most.
Logan 17-year-old Lindsay Carter has a brain tumour, epilepsy, chronic pain and nausea, and is still waiting for his ship- ment of medicinal cannabis from the US after he was the first in Australia approved to receive the drug.
His mother Lanai said she expected to have to fork out $6000-$8000 every three months for the drug.
A Health Department spokesman said there would be no issue in meeting demand, saying: “The Government will grant as many licences (both cultivation and manufacture) as is necessary to ensure that there is sufficient medicinal cannabis product to meet the demand to treat patients, as determined by suitably qualified medical practitioners.”
Gold Coast Medical Association spokesman Dr Peter McLaren said many doctors were not convinced of the medical effectiveness of cannabis.
“The scientific evidence is not strong as regards any of the components in marijuana as being advantageous, even to the point of view of nausea and vomiting with chemotherapy, and that’s its primary use,” Dr McLaren said. “It does work with some people to make their chemotherapy a little bit more tolerable.”