❓ Opposition Leader McGowan questions Health Minister Hames on his apparent change of position regarding medicinal cannabis. Hames defends his stance, highlighting concerns about potential misuse and side effects, while supporting a federal review.
AnsweredQoN 674Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CANNABIS — MEDICAL USE — MINISTER
FOR HEALTH'S COMMENTS
674. Mr M. McGOWAN to the
Minister for Health:
I refer to the Minister for Health's comments in July
this year that prescribing medicinal cannabis for those people suffering from
terminal illness or chronic pain was ''soft on drugs'' and would ''undermine
efforts to reduce illicit drug use''.
(1) Given the
Minister for Health's vehement attack on this issue and me just two
months ago, why has he now changed his position?
(2) Is the
minister prepared to show leadership and change the law on this important issue
to many people?
FOR HEALTH'S COMMENTS
674. Mr M. McGOWAN to the
Minister for Health:
I refer to the Minister for Health's comments in July
this year that prescribing medicinal cannabis for those people suffering from
terminal illness or chronic pain was ''soft on drugs'' and would ''undermine
efforts to reduce illicit drug use''.
(1) Given the
Minister for Health's vehement attack on this issue and me just two
months ago, why has he now changed his position?
(2) Is the
minister prepared to show leadership and change the law on this important issue
to many people?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2)
This is a very insensitive question, I feel, on my attack. My statements two
months ago are absolutely correct.
Several
members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Dr K.D. HAMES : In this state, this
government has taken a very strong line on cannabis. Contrary to the Labor Party
and the two plants it allowed people to have out the back, we have been very
strong on prohibiting cannabis. That is in fact justified, because members
would have just seen in The West
Australian recently a report of a long-term study that shows significant
harm to people on marijuana compared to those on alcohol. To everyone who says
it is just a social drug that does no harm, that is not true.
The comments
I made a couple of months ago referred to the use of marijuana, and my comments—if
the Leader of the Opposition had listened to the full commentary—were
around the fact that there are already two products derived from cannabis
currently available and used in Western Australia. One, which I know about
particularly, is a drug that treats nausea in pregnancy. It is not used very
much because it is not very good, and lots of other drugs are better. On
television recently there was a program about a product used by a young girl
with epilepsy. That contained a low-THC cannabis, so it is not an active
variety for drug purposes. It is made into an oil used to treat epilepsy. The
program gave a very strong impression of good results, and we have heard
reports from other countries suggesting that such results may be good. About
two months ago, I had a young grandmother come to my electorate —
Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Midland!
Dr K.D. HAMES :
This is an important story.
I had a grandmother come into my electorate office with a
girl who had severe epilepsy.
Mr M. McGowan : You've
changed your view. We were right; you were wrong.
Dr K.D. HAMES : No,
you were not right.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Members!
Dr K.D. HAMES : The
girl had such severe epilepsy that I wrote to the federal Minister for Health
outlining that it was my view that there needs to be a federal study —
Mr M. McGowan : You
said I was soft on drugs.
Dr K.D. HAMES :
Your attitude is soft on drugs. I will say it again—soft, soft, soft!
There needs to be a review. There were two components of that
television program that were disturbing. One, it said how good medical
marijuana was. It would be thought that only a few people need it, but every
second chemist shown on the program had a marijuana leaf sign up saying, ''Come
and get your medical marijuana here.'' It was obviously a gateway to get
people free access to marijuana. The other thing they said was that nine
children had ended up in intensive care as a result of the oil that was used to
treat that child. If the commonwealth is to allow a drug to treat other medical
conditions, firstly, it needs to be the non-active component of the drug, so
that we do not have everyone who wants to have a smoke of dope getting medical
marijuana, and, secondly, we need to find out what the potential side effects
are, because it may be that they are worse than the treatment of the condition.
I support a review being undertaken and, as I said, I wrote to the federal
health minister two months ago.
Several members interjected.
Dr K.D. HAMES : The
opposition's stance is wrong and all the people who think the
opposition is telling the right story are the people who want to smoke socially
and get their marijuana, or their tablet, from a GP and as a substitute for
marijuana.
This is a very insensitive question, I feel, on my attack. My statements two
months ago are absolutely correct.
Several
members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Dr K.D. HAMES : In this state, this
government has taken a very strong line on cannabis. Contrary to the Labor Party
and the two plants it allowed people to have out the back, we have been very
strong on prohibiting cannabis. That is in fact justified, because members
would have just seen in The West
Australian recently a report of a long-term study that shows significant
harm to people on marijuana compared to those on alcohol. To everyone who says
it is just a social drug that does no harm, that is not true.
The comments
I made a couple of months ago referred to the use of marijuana, and my comments—if
the Leader of the Opposition had listened to the full commentary—were
around the fact that there are already two products derived from cannabis
currently available and used in Western Australia. One, which I know about
particularly, is a drug that treats nausea in pregnancy. It is not used very
much because it is not very good, and lots of other drugs are better. On
television recently there was a program about a product used by a young girl
with epilepsy. That contained a low-THC cannabis, so it is not an active
variety for drug purposes. It is made into an oil used to treat epilepsy. The
program gave a very strong impression of good results, and we have heard
reports from other countries suggesting that such results may be good. About
two months ago, I had a young grandmother come to my electorate —
Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Midland!
Dr K.D. HAMES :
This is an important story.
I had a grandmother come into my electorate office with a
girl who had severe epilepsy.
Mr M. McGowan : You've
changed your view. We were right; you were wrong.
Dr K.D. HAMES : No,
you were not right.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Members!
Dr K.D. HAMES : The
girl had such severe epilepsy that I wrote to the federal Minister for Health
outlining that it was my view that there needs to be a federal study —
Mr M. McGowan : You
said I was soft on drugs.
Dr K.D. HAMES :
Your attitude is soft on drugs. I will say it again—soft, soft, soft!
There needs to be a review. There were two components of that
television program that were disturbing. One, it said how good medical
marijuana was. It would be thought that only a few people need it, but every
second chemist shown on the program had a marijuana leaf sign up saying, ''Come
and get your medical marijuana here.'' It was obviously a gateway to get
people free access to marijuana. The other thing they said was that nine
children had ended up in intensive care as a result of the oil that was used to
treat that child. If the commonwealth is to allow a drug to treat other medical
conditions, firstly, it needs to be the non-active component of the drug, so
that we do not have everyone who wants to have a smoke of dope getting medical
marijuana, and, secondly, we need to find out what the potential side effects
are, because it may be that they are worse than the treatment of the condition.
I support a review being undertaken and, as I said, I wrote to the federal
health minister two months ago.
Several members interjected.
Dr K.D. HAMES : The
opposition's stance is wrong and all the people who think the
opposition is telling the right story are the people who want to smoke socially
and get their marijuana, or their tablet, from a GP and as a substitute for
marijuana.
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