cannabisnews.com: Patients May Soon Obtain Marijuana From Pharmacy





Patients May Soon Obtain Marijuana From Pharmacy
Posted by FoM on September 30, 1999 at 07:52:31 PT
Source: AFR Net Services
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) New South Wales branch and the NSW Law Society have joined forces with the Australian Committee for Medical Cannabis to urge Australia's governments to reschedule cannabis, so it can be used legally as a medicine. 
Cannabis could soon be available on prescription at pharmacies to HIV and cancer patients, if a push by peak medical and legal bodies is successful. The push, launched simultaneously in NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, is calling on governments to amend the laws so patients, particularly those suffering side effects from chemotherapy, lymphoma and AIDS treatments, can use cannabis as part of their treatment. A number of patients are already using the drug illegally, mostly with the knowledge of their doctors, and could face prosecution if they were caught. However, AMA (NSW) president Kerryn Phelps would not say whether doctors were encouraging patients to take the drug or informing them of where to get it illegally. "Doctors frequently know that their patients are using cannabis for that relief," Dr Phelps told reporters. "Anecdotally most doctors that you would speak to are very happy for their patients to find relief for their suffering." She said patients were risking being charged and prosecuted in order to use cannabis to relieve their suffering. "The bottom line is we are talking about people who on compassionate grounds need a medical treatment," she said. "I would challenge any politician to look any person in the eye who has intolerable symptoms ... and say we know there is something that might work for you but we are not going to make it legal." Committee for Medical Cannabis chairman Timothy Moore said if approved by government, cannabis would be grown in controlled conditions and made available to patients on prescription from pharmacies. Cancer patient Paul Deconning, who was diagnosed with leukaemia in January last year, said he used cannabis while undergoing chemotherapy treatment in hospital. "I underwent 16 weeks of hospital treatment and three rounds of intravenous chemotherapy which was fairly intense," Mr Deconning said. He took cannabis during that time to combat the nausea caused by chemotherapy, and "did not vomit once". "I don't like the idea of being a criminal by using cannabis but the situation at the moment means that is what I have to do and I want that to change," he said. Law Society president Margaret Hole said drug use and abuse was a health and social issue, not a criminal one. "We need to keep people who have a legitimate right to this drug outside the justice system," Ms Hole said.Published: September 30, 1999
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #2 posted by IAN on February 21, 2001 at 16:57:08 PT:
getting caught with marijuana
hi i just got caught with about 2 oz of marijuana ,i use it for the pain in my hip i had a operation, and it makes it so i can sleep, but there trying to say i sell it, is it legal in victoria for medical reasons? thanks                    IAN                   
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by FoM on September 30, 1999 at 18:53:01 PT:
Who Spends More on Pot Than on Wine? 
Who Spends More on Pot Than on Wine? September 30, 1999Fox Newshttp://www.foxnews.com/PERTH — Australia's reputation as a nation of big drinkers is going up in smoke with research released this week showing vast untaxed expenditure on marijuana.Researchers at the University of Western Australia's Economic Research Center have found that Australians spend almost as much on illegal cannabis as they do on their beloved beer and twice as much as they do on wine."Expenditure on marijuana in 1995 was a little over A$5 billion (US$3.25 billion) or A$351 per capita," said researchers Professor Ken Clements and Mert Daryal in a paper entitled The Economics of Marijuana Consumption.The estimated pot expenditure was equivalent to one percent of Australia's 1995 gross domestic product, far higher than was previously estimated.It represented double the expenditure on wine and three-quarters of the money spent on beer.Clements and Daryal also found direct link between pot consumption and drinking habits. Experience in other countries had suggested liberalization of marijuana laws results in a fall in alcohol consumption."Alcohol and marijuana seem to be substitutes, with cross-price elasticities," they said."In most cases, (liberalized) legislation lowers drinking. Spirits consumption falls the most, then wine and then beer," they said.The researchers said they hoped to gain a better understanding of the economics of a drug which they estimate "is used by something like one-third of the entire adult population" but which "generates no tax revenue."Their paper also included a survey of University of Western Australia first year students which found that about 50 percent had used marijuana.Not surprisingly, the report found that legalizing marijuana would "increase consumption by about 13 percent ... and alcohol consumption would fall."Clements and Daryal said that "in view of the large number of people who have used marijuana" and that expenditure is twice that on wine "it is surprising that more is not known about these intriguing matters."Most of the marijuana consumed in Australia is grown in remote tracts of the island continent.comments newsdigital.com
[ Post Comment ]

Post Comment


Name: Optional Password: 
E-Mail: 
Subject: 
Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message]
Link URL: 
Link Title: