Tasmania should move quickly to legalise medicinal cannabis, otherwise it risks being left behind.
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This week, the Victorian Government passed historic legislation approving the use of medicinal cannabis - becoming the first state in the country to do so.
For Tasmania, the benefits of creating an industry based on growing cannabis for medicinal use would be clear-cut, without taking into account the ethical and medical benefits for people desperate to benefit from its well-documented side effects.
Those benefits included helping to reduce chronic pain and muscle spasms, reducing nausea in people undergoing chemotherapy, and helping to reduce the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. But there are many others equally as important.
There are also widespread reports of its benefits to children who suffer from severe epilepsy, giving them much-needed respite from the traumatic effects of this cruel, debilitating condition.
Under existing laws in Tasmania, the possession and use of cannabis for medicinal purposes is against the law.
In January, this paper reported that parents of sick children had become so desperate they had turned to the underworld to source their own medicinal cannabis.
One such parent bought cannabis oil to treat her 24-year-old son, who suffers severe epilepsy. Thanks to the oil, the mother said her son had been able to reduce his regular medication by two-thirds.
The benefits for the family were almost instant. Their son's sleeping improved, his seizures were less intense as well as less frequent. They went on to describe the improvements as “a miracle.”
Tasmania has taken small steps towards approving its use without taking that final, all-important step.
In December last year, the state government teamed up with New South Wales to pursue research on the benefits of medicinal cannabis.
The respective premiers signed a memorandum of understanding that will see the two states work collaboratively on a number of initiatives, including research and clinical trials, including one that targets children with severe epilepsy, adults with terminal illness and adults with chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.
For those Tasmanians who feel so passionately about medicinal cannabis, final approval cannot come soon enough.