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| The late Dr Mario Oriani-Ambrosini. |
KZN’s thousands of medicinal cannabis users yesterday celebrated an
announcement that medicinal cannabis for prescribed illnesses may be regulated
as soon as April, instead of criminalised.
Among the interest groups who are watching the announcement with
keen interest are 30 palliative care nurses, who last week attended a talk on
using cannabis to provide cheap pain relief and fight early stage cancers to
KZN’s many indigent pensioners.
The IFP’s chief whip in parliament, Narend Singh, said the news
from parliament’s portfolio committee on health was a victory for his late
colleague, Dr Mario Oriani-Ambrosini, who introduced the Medical Innovation Bill
(MIB) while terminally ill with cancer.
“This heralds a great step forward for public access and research
into the use of medicinal cannabis… What matters now is that the Department
ensures that access to medicinal cannabis will not be restricted to the rich … ”
said Singh yesterday.
Health officials told the committee the new regulatory framework
could be available as early as the end of January 2017 for stakeholder comment,
and could be implemented as soon as April 2017.
Singh thanked MPs from across the political spectrum who joined to
promote the aims of the MIB. Even DA MPs have now changed their stance on the
bill, which it initially opposed as “ill-conceived”. The DA yesterday stated the
proposed reforms would empower the soon-to-be established South African Health
Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) to license specific producers of
cannabis.
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One dagga activist told The Witness while the news to “legalise instead of
criminalise” dagga was a huge step in the right direction for SA, the Medical
Innovations Bill would put big pharmaceutical companies in control of
production.
The activist said this may mean that rural and
local medicinal cannabis producers can be sued under patent laws for using a
plant “which has healed humanity for thousands of years”.
Spokesperson for the SA Cannabis Community and
Regulatory Authority, (Saccra) Jason O’Donoghue said the next step suppliers had
to take was to set a standard of excellence, both in growing and making from
dagga tea to full extracts.
He also urged both buyers and growers to learn
everything they could about CBD (cannabidiol) and CBN (cannabinol), as these
cannabinoids were potent medicines and too much could have biphasic
results.
O’Donoghue said there were too many people
selling full extract at R1 000 to treat mild aches and pains, for which a free,
homegrown dagga tea would have been perfect.
Law out of joint with
times
While demand for medicinal cannabis is on the
increase among health carers and pensioners, not everyone is keen on the plant’s
legislation.
This contradicts the recommendations by Professor Dan Steyn, who in
the position statement on cannabis for the Executive Committee of the Central
Drug Authority, emphasises the need for “harm reduction strategies against
continued and chronic use of alcohol and cannabis, and the potential value of a
focus on decriminalisation rather than the outlawing and possession of
cannabis”.
