Medical marijuana on prescription

• weka
• 7 years ago
• Categories: capitalism, drugs, health
• Tags: cannabis, CBD

Doctors now able to prescribe cannabidiol (RNZ)

The government is lifting restrictions on cannabidiol, or CBD, a substance found in cannabis with potential therapeutic value and little or no psychoactive properties.

It means doctors will be able to prescribe products containing CBD without Ministry of Health approval.

Cannabidiol is currently a controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

…

Strict import and export restrictions on products sourced from other countries would hold back their supply to New Zealand, Mr Dunne said.

And he said there were currently very few products which meet the quality standards necessary to be prescribed.

“However, we do know of at least one CBD product in development made to high manufacturing standards that will contain two percent or less of the other cannabinoids found in cannabis,” said Mr Dunne.

“Really what today’s announcement is about is future-proofing the system … Once the quality products become available, it means they will be able to be prescribed without any form of ministerial or other interventions.”

About time, and it’s a significant improvement on the stressful, lengthy and often unreliable process people have had to go through up until now to access this medicine.

But let’s also note that Dunne is setting up things to prevent people from growing their own cannabis, or processing their own medicine, and instead wants the control put firmly with the pharmaceutical industry and the state. Which means that people in need without funds or good access to the System will suffer. Better would be to decriminalise in ways that empower people and their communities. We need good quality, commercial CBD available for sale, but we also need to let the people already making their now continue to develop that source.

Update, The Green Party press release, which addresses some of the class/access issues,

Green Party welcomes move on cannabis, will do more

Julie-Anne Genter MP on Friday, June 2, 2017 – 11:41

The Green Party welcomes the move by Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne to declassify a non-psychoactive substance in cannabis, cannabidiol (CBD), for therapeutic purposes today.

“It’s fantastic to see the Government finally accepting expert advice that CBD should be exempted from the Misuse of Drugs Act. This is one component of the Member’s Bill I put forward last month,” said Green Party health spokesperson Julie Anne Genter.

“The Greens are committed to comprehensive drug law reform, including medicinal cannabis being legal, affordable, and accessible.

“It’s good seeing policy change that will help some of the people who are currently suffering, but the high cost of importing these medicinal products continues to be a barrier.

“My Bill would ensure that sick people have affordable access. Why should people have to pay thousands of dollars a month for imported medicinal cannabis products, when the plant is very cheap to grow here?

“We are decades behind other countries on this. It’s time to ensure we can produce our own cannabis-based medicines here in Aotearoa.

“Evidence and experience overseas shows cannabis has very few side effects compared to other pharmaceutical pain relief and sleep aids, including lower risk of dependency and absolutely no risk of death from overdose.

“The best way to minimise the harms associated with drug use is to build a culture that treats drug abuse as a health issue, not a criminal one,” said Ms Genter.