Roll up for cannabis debate

Monday 08 December 2014

States Members are back in action tomorrow, but they won’t just be talking about spending, tax or health - they’ll have cannabis on their minds.

Deputy Montfort Tadier is taking two petitions to the States – one to issue a licence to an MS sufferer to take cannabis to help her deal with her daily pain and other symptoms, and another to make Cannabis-based medicine more widely available, including to another MS sufferer.

The Deputy is taking the proposals to the House – but looks likely to face opposition from Health Minister Andrew Green, whose department has advised against allowing anyone to take an illegal drug.

In March, the head of the Alcohol and Drugs Service said that while he had no problem with cannabis-based medicines like the spray Sativex – used by MS patients to relieve pain without getting high – he had serious worries about giving patients permission to use drugs.

Mike Gaffoor said at the time that there was a big difference between pharamaceutically-prepared cannabis-based medicine, and the medicinal use of cannabis.

He said: “As far as street cannabis is concerned I would not support the use of that in any medical condition, not least because it contains tar which is more carcinogenic than tobacco and because it is linked to schizophrenia. It is a harmful drug and we know it is linked to psychosis and it is associated with a range of medical illnesses.”