From The Sydney Morning Herald
letters@smh.fairfax.com.au
http://www.smh.com.au/
By Judith Whelan, Health Writer

LAWYERS, DOCTORS BACK CANNABIS

Cannabis could become a legal herbal medicine for people suffering from cancer and AIDS under a plan by doctors' and lawyers' groups.
See
Australian Medical Association Endorses Medical Marijuana Trials, Decriminalization For Personal Use;
Alaska Legislature Limits Voter-Approved Medical Marijuana Law --NORML Weekly PR

In a joint call yesterday, the AMA's NSW president, Dr Kerryn Phelps, and the president of the Law Society, Ms Margaret Hole, urged the NSW Government to change its drug laws to allow cannabis to be prescribed, for certain conditions and under supervision.

The State Government has not ruled out the proposal.

The NSW Attorney-General, Mr Shaw, said it was not something the Government

had considered but "I would be interested to see the AMA's submission on that matter".

Marijuana was sometimes the only thing that helped people deal with the pain and intractable nausea of diseases such as leukaemia, lymphoma, and certain AIDS-related conditions and the treatment, Dr Phelps said.

Yet such people faced arrest and prosecution for using an illegal drug.

"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."
See
Republicans Hold DC Hostage To Block Medical Marijuana,
After Clinton Vetos DC Appropriations Bill, Thereby Upholding Initiative 59.
Prohibitionism Uber Alles

The illegality of cannabis for people for whom it was the only workable palliative treatment was "a human rights issue", Ms Hole said. "If I have a disease, I have a human right to be treated with the best medicine possible."

There are no legal supplies of cannabis available in Australia. The chairman of the Australian Committee for the Medical Use of Cannabis, Mr Timothy Moore, said the first step was to allow those who needed the drug for medical purposes to use it; the second was to set up a legal supply of it, grown in controlled conditions similar to those used for its supply in California (where supervised medical use is legal) and for research in Britain.

(Marijuananews note: Well, not quite. The gray market supplies California medical marijuana.)

Several overseas studies have shown that compounds in cannabis can alleviate nausea and stimulate appetite.

"This yields enormous quality of life benefits for some individuals who suffer from diseases or disease treatments that produce impaired appetite or nausea," said Dr Macdonald Christie, head of pharmacology at the University of Sydney.

Mr Paul Dekonig, who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in 1988, said when he recently had 16 weeks of chemotherapy, he smoked cannabis regularly, and "as a result I didn't vomit".

Most people on such long series of treatments lost a great deal of their body weight because they couldn't eat and had no appetite. Because his appetite was stimulated, "I only lost 10 per cent of my total bodyweight" and he recovered from the debilitation of chemotherapy faster as a result.

"I don't like the idea of being a criminal for using cannabis," he said.

October 1, 1999

From The Australian
ausletr@matp.newsltd.com.au
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/
By John Ellicott

GPS, LAW BACK MARIJUANA RETHINK

LEGAL and doctors' groups joined forces yesterday to call for the legalisation of prescription marijuana for people with severe medical conditions.

The NSW Government indicated yesterday it would not immediately rule out any move that would decriminalise marijuana for medical use.

Marijuana would have to be grown legally to support any such move, the convenor of the Australian Committee for Medical Cannabis, Timothy Moore, said.

The NSW Law Society and the Australian Medical Association said cannabis for medical use had been legalised in parts of the US and there was no reason this should not happen in Australia. Most State law societies and AMA branches were supporting the move.

NSW AMA president Kerryn Phelps said many doctors already encouraged patients who used marijuana to relieve their symptoms to continue using the drug.

"Common sense dictates that we already have enough evidence for this," Dr Phelps said.

"We think there should be exemptions for such people immediately. If marijuana doesn't work for them, they won't use it, and if it has some side effects they won't continue using it.

"As far as I can see, legalising prescription marijuana is a win win situation."

An HIV-positive person and a leukemia sufferer both expressed their need for the drug yesterday.

Mr Wain, 51, said he "could not have survived without cannabis".

"This is not an easy thing for me to come out to and talk about, I have a son and family, but like my sexuality I don't think I am breaking the law by smoking marijuana."

Leukemia sufferer Paul Deconning said without marijuana he could not have eaten three meals a day after going through chemotherapy treatment.

NSW Law Society president Margaret Hole said she could see no reason why the law could not be changed to exempt people who needed marijuana for their conditions.

"Drug use and abuse is primarily a health and social issue not a criminal one and it should be addressed as such," Ms Hole said.

NSW Attorney-General Jeff Shaw said he would consider the proposal.

Mr Moore said he believed if the move was approved, there would have to be legal marijuana crop plantations set up to support the service.
(Marijuananews note: That could be done in 90 days, but there is no need to wait. Australia produces excellent cannabis grown outdoors year 'round. It could be purchased on the black market until indoor controlled supplies can be produced.)