Pubdate: Mon, 15 Aug 2016
Source: Caymanian Compass (Cayman Islands)
Copyright: 2016 Cayman Free Press Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.caycompass.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4065

CANNABIS OIL - OR POLITICAL SNAKE OIL?

Premier Alden McLaughlin (who is an attorney) outlined the case
against moving forward with the legalization of medical marijuana in
the Cayman Islands. He then endorsed moving forward with the
legalization of medical marijuana in the Cayman Islands.

A statement released by the Office of the Premier noted the
following:

1. "Cannabis oil" - a highly concentrated extract of marijuana (aka
cannabis or ganja) - is not available legally in many jurisdictions,
including Jamaica and in the U.S. under federal law.

2.There is no consensus among the medical community that cannabis oil
contains curative properties for diseases such as cancer. Due to the
lack of evidence and testing, there is no agreement on dosage amounts.

In other words, if Cayman were to legalize cannabis oil, it's unclear
from where (or whom) pharmacists would obtain it, how doctors would
prescribe it, or what the expected results might be. The U.S. Food and
Drug Administration has not approved the use of cannabis oil for
medical purposes.

And yet, the Progressives government is moving ahead with planned
amendments to relevant laws and regulations, perhaps as soon as this
fall.

Hold on. While the FDA, like other evidence-driven organizations, can
be slow-moving, even maddeningly so, it is still a remarkably credible
body. In regard to the approval of substances for medical treatment,
the FDA - not Cayman's Cabinet - should be looked to for guidance.
Once the FDA (or an equivalent regulatory agency) green-lights the
prescription of cannabis oil (or any substance), then, but only then,
should Cabinet race to make it available in our pharmacies.

What appears to be going on is that handful of influencers in the
country, particularly people suffering from cancer (but also activists
who want cannabis to be legalized period), have successfully pushed
lawmakers into the medical marijuana field.

We have every sympathy for people combatting deadly diseases and feel
they should have access to every proven treatment available, and
recourse to as many experimental treatments as is feasible. We don't
want to take away people's hope … but we also don't desire to give
them false hope (which approving the prescribed use of cannabis oil
may very well turn out to be).

In this instance, at this point in time, there are far too many
unknowns for us to support legalizing cannabis oil in Cayman. Chief
among them is the question of whether Cayman providers will be able to
import the product successfully from - and this is important - legal
sources. (This is an issue that plagues many jurisdictions that have
legalized or decriminalized the use of ganja, for medicinal or
recreational purposes; namely, it is grown and processed "illegally"
and only at a certain point on the distribution chain does it become
"legal.")

We haven't lost sight of the patients in Cayman who have exhausted all
other legal treatment options, and for whom cannabis oil is a last
resort. Here's our proposal: The government can pay to send them to
other jurisdictions (California, Colorado, Canada, etc.) where
cannabis oil is legal, just as hundreds of local patients already
travel overseas for specialty medical care every year.

In the short term, it's a faster and more elegant solution than
attempting to make Cayman a cannabis oil (to use the premier's word)
"pioneer."
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MAP posted-by: Matt