New Zealand could soon legalise the medicinal use of cannabis...

NZ could legalise the medicinal use of cannabis...

First published at Qassia:

The New Zealand government could soon legalise the medicinal use of cannabis products such as sprays, after an application by the leading British manufacturer of "Sativex".

Medsafe is considering whether to allow the marketing and sale of cannabis sprays for severe pain relief in this country.

Cannabis is a class C drug, and cannabis preparations are class B drugs in New Zealand. But the NZ Medicines Act allows the drug to be used with ministerial approval.

It comes at a time when the country faces a parliamentary election in a matter of weeks, and mounting pressure from patients and scientists to legalise the use only foraccident victims, cancer patients and some multiple sclerosis patients.

There is bound to be opposition from certain quarters who do not support any use of drugs such as cannabis and would consider it to be the short end of the stick. This will be a major change in policy for New Zealand society who have indicated their disapproval in the past for any relaxing of the drug laws, even for medicinal use.

The medicinal cannabis use lobby have spent many years putting forward their case for using cannabis for severe pain relief.

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