Cannabis should be a health not a legal issue

Stuff reports:

Terminally ill Council of Trade Unions president Helen Kelly is pleading with the Government to improve access to medicinal cannabis, as she confesses she is “a little bit scared” of dying.

Kelly, who has lung cancer, said on Monday she had exhausted all legal pain relief and had resorted to the black market to obtain cannabis oil. But she did not like putting people in an awkward position to help her.

“I’ve tried [cannabis oil]. I’m not promoting it as a curative, but as a pain relief it’s incredibly effective for me and it doesn’t make me feel sick, which morphine does.”

She took the drug at night to make sure being stoned would not disrupt her day.

“It just seems absolutely insane that I’ve got no idea what I’m taking, how much I should take or how it’s manufactured – it’s crazy.”

There were plenty of other countries accepting that medicinal cannabis was useful for pain relief and New Zealand needed to “stop being a fishing village”.

I don’t support use of cannabis being a criminal offence, so I also support it being available for medical purposes.

In the US, 22 states allow cannabis for medical reasons and four states (plus DC) have legalised the use and sale of cannabis in all situations. There’s been no evidence of increased ham.