Hon Dr Brian Walker questions the Minister for Health regarding medicinal cannabis, driver impairment, and the progress of the ministerial working group. The Minister provides updates on the working group's activities and considerations.

AnsweredQoN 1443Legislative Council
Asked
12 November 2024
Portfolio
Health

QuestionView source ↗

MEDICAL CANNABIS —
DRIVER IMPAIRMENT
1443. Hon Dr BRIAN WALKER to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Minister for Health:
I refer the minister to a study
posted in the online version of The Lancet , arguably the world's
leading medical journal, which concluded that there is no ''linear
relationship between driving outcomes and blood THC''.
(1) Does the Cook government accept
this widely recognised scientific fact?
(2) Will The
Lancet paper be considered by the ministerial
working group into driving and THC; and, if not, why not?
(3) Now that the
working group has been properly constituted and has begun its deliberations, is
the minister able to provide the house with information about how regularly it
plans to meet and whether or not any timeframe has been suggested within which
it might report back to her?
(4) Reminding the
minister that other Australian jurisdictions are now streets ahead of Western Australia
in reducing the discrimination suffered by medicinal cannabis users, why does
the Cook Labor government feel the need to make Western Australians wait a while
for any meaningful change here?

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. The following answer has been provided by the
Minister for Health.
(1) The medicinal
cannabis and safe driving working group will consider the pre-print paper to
which the honourable member refers.
(2) Yes.
(3) The medicinal cannabis and safe driving working group plans
to meet monthly over a period of approximately 12 months. There will be no
meeting in January.
(4) The medicinal
cannabis and safe driving working group will consider relevant evidence and
views prior to developing a report for the Minister for Health. The minister
will await the recommendations from the working group.

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