Cannabis has been advocated as a treatment for nausea, vomiting, wasting, pain and muscle spasm in cancer, HIV/AIDS, and neurological disorders. Such uses are prohibited by law; cannabinoid drugs are not registered for medical use in Australia and a smoked plant product is unlikely to be registered. A New South Wales Working Party has recommended granting exemption from prosecution to patients who are medically certified to have specified medical conditions. This proposal deserves to be considered by other State and Territory governments.
Correspondence:
- 1.
- Report of the Working Party on the Use of Cannabis for MedicalPurposes. Volume I: Executive summary; Volume II: Main report.Sydney: NSW Government, 2000. Available at<http://www.druginfo.nsw.gov.au/druginfo/reports/medical_cannabis.html>.
- 2.
- Institute of Medicine (United States). Marijuana and medicine:assessing the science base. Washington: National Academy Press,1999.
- 3.
- House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology (UnitedKingdom). Cannabis: the scientific and medical evidence. London:The Stationery Office, 1998.
- 4.
- Mather L. Delivery systems for medical cannabis. Appendix D in theReport of the Working Party on the Use of Cannabis for MedicalPurposes. Volume II: Main report. Sydney: NSW Government, 2000.Available at <http://www.druginfo.nsw.gov.au/druginfo/reports/medical_cannabis.html>.
- 5.
- Hall W, Degenhardt L. Estimated number of potential medical usersof cannabis. Sydney: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre,2000. Available at <http://www.med.unsw.edu.au/ndarc/>.
- 6.
- Blyth FM, March LM, Brnabic AJM, et al. Chronic pain in Australia: aprevalence study. Pain 2001; 89: 127-134.
- 7.
- National Drug Strategy household survey: first results.Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 1999. (DrugStatistics Series; AIHW catalogue no. PHE 15.)
- 8.
- Johnston L, O'Malley P, Bachman J. National survey results on druguse from the monitoring the future study, 1975-1999. Rockville, MD:National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2000.
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