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Cannabis
Inquiry, Health Select Committee, Parliament, Wellington.
DATE: Friday, January 26, 2001
SUBMISSION
TO THE HEALTH SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE INQUIRY INTO CANNABIS
Terms of
reference: �To inquire into the most effective public health and health
promotion strategies to minimize the use and harm associated with cannabis, and
consequently the most appropriate legal status of cannabis.�
THIS
SUBMISSION IS FROM:
New
Zealand Medicinal Cannabis Club Incorporated. 2000.
Address:
25 Miles Crescent. Newlands. Wellington 6004. New Zealand.
NZMCC
WISH TO APPEAR BEFORE THE COMMITTEE TO SPEAK TO OUR SUBMISSION.
This
submission is concerned with Medicinal Cannabis and those whom may benefit from its use
therapeutically and medicinally only.
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Contents
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NZMCC
SUBMITS THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS:
This
submission is concerned with Medicinal Cannabis and those whom may benefit from its use
therapeutically and medicinally.
Recommendations:
1.������ The most appropriate public health and health
promotion strategy is one based upon harm minimization. For example: An immediate
moratorium on prosecutions for provable medicinal cannabis users and the removal of
criminal penalties for patients who use medicinal cannabis.
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2.������ To establish a non profit entity to facilitate
the transition of the market for cannabis for medical purposes from an illicit one to a
licit one in full compliance with all government rules and regulations;
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3.������ To ensure the availability of a supply of
cannabis for medical purposes only that meets appropriate quality standards regarding
unadulteration and sanitation and other health requirements;
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4.������ To provide a safe, friendly, supportive and
secure environment for member patients to receive and use cannabis for medical purposes
only and on prescription from their physicians;
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5.������ To educate physicians, patients, politicians,
and the general public about the beneficial medical uses of cannabis .
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6.������ To encourage and facilitate research into all
aspects of medical use, including, appropriate methods of use of cannabis for medical
purposes including quality standards, potency, methods of administration, appropriate
dosages and all other areas of interest to government and science;
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7.������ To provide information as a result of these
activities to enable the enactment or promulgation of legislation or amendments to laws to
lawfully regulate the supply and demand of cannabis for medical purposes;
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8.������ To provide access to and information regarding
natural therapies;
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9.������ To participate in the approval, in the control
and regulation of licensed dealers and manufacturers of cannabis for medical purposes;
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10.�� To provide for the lawful possession of
cannabis for member patients upon prescription from their doctors such as in the ACT
(Australian Capital Territories).
Terms
of Reference Seriously Flawed.
With
respect the view of the NZMCC is that the terms of reference for this enquiry are
seriously flawed. The words �to minimize the use and harm associated with
cannabis� denotes to the reader that cannabis is harmful to human beings. NZMCC
research would appear from a health aspect to show the complete converse to be more
accurate in a significant number of cases. Despite this NZMCC understands why such wording
is used. It requires challenge.
Quote from
USA DEA.(Source: the prestigious Shaffer Drug Library.)
On
September 6,1988 after hearing two years of testimony, the Drug Enforcement
Administrations chief administrative law judge, Francis Young ruled: Marijuana, in its
natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known �.. It
would be unreasonable, arbitrary, and capricious for DEA to continue to stand between
those sufferers and the benefits of this substance.
End quote.
There is
much rhetoric quite unsubstantiated from a scientific viewpoint claiming all sorts of
�demonic� effects that are supposedly caused by cannabis. Within New Zealand
there is little or no publication of statistically significant scientific data showing the
positive effects cannabis use has for some patients. Specifically there is no information
in an official context from those public bodies and officials that are charged with
providing exactly that, namely information that can be relied on by the public of New
Zealand, apart from one notable exception that is Cannabis the Public Health Issues 95/96
published by the MOH; unfortunately the publication does not confront the issue of
medicinal cannabis. It does clearly state the recreational effects the major one in our
view is Laughter �.. a recognized healing aid.
The
wording of the terms of reference is at best cynically mischievous in that anything could
be deemed harmful to an individuals health such as benzene in motor vehicle exhausts,
screwdrivers or golf clubs in the hands of a deranged persons. The very air we breath is
quite lethal in its sea level proportions� at
a water depth of 196 feet. Too much water removing electrolytes from the body can be
dangerous.
Why our
elected representatives and officials have chosen to �witch hunt� and continue
to promote disproven theories perpetuating the cannabis myth is a puzzling phenomena to
NZMCC.
Criminality
� The Harm it Causes.
The state
insisting on making those that attempt to assist their own health and future, criminals;
is unhelpful. This policy causes immeasurable harm, pain and suffering unnecessarily to
New Zealand citizens who are quite obviously not criminals. They choose to utilize a plant
that nature, if not God supplied, that happens to contain compounds that have a beneficial
effect in a therapeutic context regarding the particular malady afflicting them. Neither
the plant nor the human beings in this context are criminals. Those seeking to criminalize
them however could readily be viewed at least as uncompassionate, at worst criminally
negligent. As a society in any other context, NZMCC submits such action by the crown would
be viewed by the public as abhorrent. Neither does such a position by the crown reflect
the much touted policy of a decent caring compassionate society that strives to create a
�greater good� for all its participants, surely the cornerstones of modern
caring societies. NZMCC find it impossible to believe that any New Zealand citizen would
deny any other New Zealand citizen access to a plant material that demonstrably does have
beneficial health effects in numerous local and internationally, documented cases. (see
appendices.)
Society
may insist that the earth is flat. Undeniably it is not. Common sense dictates that
irrespective of any other findings this committee may come to, the potential medicinal
benefits of cannabis should be trialed/assessed as a matter of urgency, within New
Zealand.
The
Core Issues Medicinally.
The core
issue from the NZMCC viewpoint is the removal of criminal penalties for patients who use
cannabis for medicinal purposes. The most appropriate public health and health promotion
strategy is one based upon harm minimization. Any changes to the status quo must be based
on modern credible information. An immediate moratorium on prosecutions for provable
medicinal cannabis users and the removal of criminal penalties for patients who use
medicinal cannabis should be a starting point. In itself victimization and criminalization
of the ill is an abhorrent antisocial act, morally and ethically unsustainable, likely to
exacerbate the illness already being suffered. The current legal status as it pertains to
medicinal cannabis, is, the NZMCC suggest, harm maximization. Not the outcome purported by
the NZ Health Ministry, which promotes harm minimization.
NZMCC
Formation.
The New Zealand Medicinal Cannabis Club
formation, August 2000 in New Zealand has become necessary due to the continuing refusal
or ignoring of both scientific and anecdotal evidence regarding health benefits of
cannabis, by those in authority. Members of NZMCC are of the view that it is
unconscionable to deny access to beneficial substances perceived or otherwise to humans
with illnesses. Daily throughout the world extremely toxic substances at great cost are
ingested or applied by millions of people with both government and medical practitioners
endorsement; due to scientific evidence showing the benefits far outweigh the deficits.
Cannabis of course is non-toxic.
Sick and extremely ill
people neither care nor should care about illegitimate and humanely irresponsible
legislation that�s core philosophy appears to be harm maximization.� Current Cannabis legislation, whose target is
healthy people indulging in recreational drug taking, is in the view of NZMCC a prime
example of such tactic�s, whose overall effect at the time of writing in New Zealand
could conceivably lead to death in extreme cases, increased stress levels leading to a
sure further decline in health and well being, and finally criminal stigma and criminal
activity, hardly a positive outcome for humans already suffering.�
It may seem bizarre to some for the NZMCC to
be promoting something such as ingesting smoke as a health benefit. Whilst smoking is one
method of delivery of such medication it should be noted in a reasonable society NZMCC
would not promote such an activity if there were a viable alternative. Unfortunately there
is such an alternative for ingestion that is eating and cooking. This however under
current legislation is an unpalatable option in that under NZ law-cooking biscuits
containing cannabis for instance is viewed under the Misuse of Drugs Act, as
MANUFACTURING. The biscuit goes from being a class c drug (cannabis as it grows) to a
class b drug. Compounding this is the �street cost� and uncertainty regarding
the quality of cannabis purchased via the black market for medicinal purposes.� This emphasizes in the view of NZMCC the harm
maximization of the current legal structure that recognizes cannabis as no more than a
recreational drug, assuredly a cruel tragedy. NZMCC believe that armed with the facts no
reasonable and rationale human being would deny cannabis as medication to those suffering.
Referred
Material:
NZMCC have
appended information supporting our claims such as Washington state legislation which
demonstrates that the government of the most paranoid regarding cannabis and the most
powerful nation on the planet clearly recognizes and lists some of the therapeutic and
medicinal benefits of cannabis. The NSW Cancer Council media release. Issues society and
officials may have re medicinal cannabis confronted, A guide to Patients and Physicians
June 1999 part of The Washington State Medical Marijuana Act et al. All are listed in the
appendices.
NZMCC can
not hope to refute the scientifically unsubstantiated outrageous claims made by some
organizations and individuals who seem to be stuck in �the earth is flat era.�
NZMCC can only trust in the common sense and decency of committee members as they wade
through no doubt at times contradictory submissions.
Observation:
There is a
plethora of statistically significant scientific data and governmental legislation
internationally to support the claim that cannabis has therapeutic and medicinal benefits
to humankind. The NZMCC has chosen to provide only a few examples of these at this time in
the interests of not confusing the issue. Significant information can and indeed will be
supplied with alacrity by the NZMCC should the Select Committee have an interest in
further information.
NZMCC
executive January 2001.
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Appendix 2 below is extracted from a New Zeakland� parliamentary library document. To date I have not found the complete text on the internet. heretiswhenitcomes
APPENDIX 3 Washington State 692� Full Text.
APPENDIX 4 Washington State 692 Patient and Physicians Guide.
APPENDIX 5 NSW Cancer Council Backs Medicinal Cannabis PRESS RELEASE Nov 2000
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