‘It’s the cannabis law that’s wrong’

Today, Fairfax NZ begins a series exploring cannabis reform. What would happen if farmers could sow cannabis crops? Would gangs suffer from it becoming legal? Could our health system manage? Craig Hoyle investigates.

An increasing number of Kiwis are turning to medicinal cannabis at the ends of their lives to counter the effects of terminal illnesses such as cancer.

They are the everyday successors to former trade union leader Helen Kelly – people prepared to break the law to avoid dying a slow and painful death.

What they’re doing is illegal, but they insist the drug helps relieve their symptoms.

Joan Cowie, a 64-year-old Aucklander, suffers from ‘‘horrid’’ pain when not taking cannabis.

‘‘It can be piercing, and if I lie on my side and bring my arm over, it feels like something is being squashed in my chest,’’ she says.

Cowie’s plan had been to retire and ‘‘start doing all that crazy stuff I didn’t do in my 20s’’.

Two years ago, she was told she had terminal lung cancer. ‘‘I cried. I thought I was going to die. Well, I knew I was going to die.’’

Sonia Howes, 40, learned she had terminal lung cancer, just after landing a new job driving a milk tanker in 2014.

‘‘I just couldn’t believe what they were saying to me,’’ the Bay of Plenty woman says. ‘‘Cancer to me equals death. I would lie on the couch and just cry for days.’’

Whangarei mother Alexa Smith*, 39, received the same diagnosis last year, not long after having her first child. Doctors initially misplaced her chest pain.

‘‘They sent me off to physio and osteo and said ‘oh, you’re breastfeeding, and you’ve got bad posture’, but I had a couple of episodes coughing up blood, and I knew something was wrong. Finally, they sent me for a scan, and found the cancer.’’

All three women now use medicinal cannabis to help counter the effects of their disease, including chronic pain and nausea.

They follow in the footsteps of former trade union boss Helen Kelly, who spoke out about her illegal use of medicinal cannabis before her death from lung cancer last year at the age of 52.

Kelly’s back was broken as tumours spread and pressed against her spine. She said taking cannabis helped her stay pain-free and sleep at night.

Her journey has since inspired many other cancer sufferers to seek out medicinal cannabis.

Cowie turned to Facebook for help to access the drug.

‘‘I was absolutely terrified,’’ she says. ‘‘I knew it was illegal, and I was frightened that the police might be watching that particular page but I had no other choice.’’

Since using cannabis, her appetite has returned, her pain has been relieved, and she can get a good night’s sleep. ‘‘It’s a blessing ... a god-send.’’

Cowie had never been a cannabis user and, as a mother, she warned her six children to stay away from the drug. ‘‘My daughter thinks it’s the funniest thing that God put breath into, that the old girl’s now having cannabis – especially after I banged on at them over the years!’’

Smith says the gentle effect of cannabis helps her in a way that other drugs have not. ‘‘The pain was really starting to ramp up in my bones, and the prescribed stuff doesn’t really agree with me. It makes me vomit, and it’s got all sorts of side-effects.’’

Howes fears what could happen to her family if police target her cannabis use. ‘‘I worry that I may lose my children.’’

Cowie carries copies of her cancer diagnosis in her handbag in case she ever has to explain to police why she’s carrying cannabis.

‘‘That way at least if I get pulled over I can show that I’m not lying, I have got cancer,’’ she says.

Smith acknowledges she’s technically a criminal, but ‘‘I really don’t believe I’m doing anything wrong’’.

‘‘It’s the law that’s wrong. I’m just trying to help my quality of life, and make it worth being around for.’’

The three women all agree that legally available cannabis extract products such as Sativex and Tilray are out of reach – with a single month of treatment costing as much as $1200.

Those prices have kept most Kiwis away, with figures from the Health Ministry showing just 55 active approvals for Sativex, and only four for Tilray.

By comparison, black-market cannabis can cost as little as $200 for four to six weeks of treatment.

Howes says even finding that much cash can be a struggle on a benefit, and she’d much rather just grow her own.

‘‘If I could grow it myself and medicate myself, it wouldn’t cost a fortune, and I wouldn’t be running under the radar looking for cannabis everywhere,’’ she says.

Central Auckland GP Dr Graham Gulbransen says his patients are increasingly asking how they can access medicinal cannabis.

‘‘I am not able to recommend that they go to illegal sources, because they’re not standardised products,’’ he says. ‘‘The dose is unknown, and I don’t know if there’s contamination, so it leaves me in a difficult situation.

‘‘As a doctor, I’m frustrated that there’s nothing I can realistically prescribe, and I would love to have a whole range of cheaper products.’’

The Cancer Society takes a cautious approach to medicinal cannabis, saying there is no scientific research to prove the drug’s effects on cancer patients.

‘‘We would obviously be very excited if there was a link, but currently there is no research that we are aware of that links cannabis as an effective treatment,’’ says spokesman Daniel Glover.

Glover says likewise, the society would not recommend cannabis for pain relief until rigorous testing had been completed and the drug was approved for use in New Zealand.

‘‘If anyone would like to consider an alternative treatment option, we suggest you seek advice from your oncologist or medical practitioner as some may affect your treatment,’’ he says.

Dr John Ashton, a pharmacologist and health researcher at the University of Otago, says initial research suggests the THC compound in cannabis can offer mild pain relief and non-specific sedation.

‘‘There are other properties, such as reducing nausea and stimulating appetite, although we have other drugs today which do that better.’’

Beyond that, the long-term effects of cannabis remain unclear, he says. ‘‘There’s a lot of controversy over the permanent effects.

‘‘Whatever your stance on legalisation or decriminalisation, the medicinal use of anything should be held to the same standard. So when people are just mixing up their own concoctions, it’s very hard to know what’s actually going on.’’

Howes, Smith and Cowie say that with terminal cancer, they don’t have time to wait while the Government debates medicinal cannabis.

‘‘When it’s your life that you’re dealing with, to have to live and do things under the radar is stupid,’’ says Smith. ‘‘The politicians need to hurry up and make it legal.’’ * Name changed to protect privacy.