Pubdate: Mon, 02 Feb 2015
Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Copyright: 2015 The Sydney Morning Herald
Contact:  http://www.smh.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/441
Author: James Robertson

'MEDICINAL CANNABIS USE SHOULD BE APPROVED NOW'

The NSW government's clinical trial of medicinal cannabis is 
inappropriate for patients suffering extreme pain, and the drug 
should be legally approved for patients diagnosed by doctors, a paper 
in a top medical journal argues.

"We are behind the times on medical cannabis," writes David 
Penington, an emeritus professor at Melbourne University, in a paper 
in the Medical Journal of Australia on Sunday.

"Twenty three states in the US have legalised use of cannabis for 
medical conditions, as has Canada since 2001. Other countries 
approving it include Israel, Holland and the Czech Republic."

The Baird government is to run a trial of clinical cannabis for 
approved conditions including pain associated with terminal illness, 
children with intractable epilepsy and chemotherapy-related nausea.

Trials are expected to start next year, with one group of patients 
treated with a placebo and one with active cannabis preparations. But 
Dr Penington says the government should approve use of medicinal 
cannabis now, pointing to a study showing 76 per cent of readers of 
one medical journal recommend cannabis be prescribed for cancer patients.

He further argues that the mechanics of running a double-blind study 
are not appropriate for patients, particularly those in extreme pain. 
"If a person in the late stages of painful cancer seeks the euphoria 
of THC, why should they not have it?"
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