|
Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
|
|
UK: Cannabis bill falls foul of Commons rules
ePolitix
Friday 02 Feb 2001 A bill aimed at legalising the use of cannabis for medical purposes has been dropped despite winning a Commons vote. The second reading of a private members Bill to the Misuse of Drugs Act to allow the production, supply, possession and use of cannabis and cannabis resin for medicinal purposes was passed by eight votes to four on Friday. Under Commons rules because less than 40 MPs had taken part in the vote the Bill will be held over until the next sitting. Paul Flynn, who sponsored the bill had earlier told epxNews that MPs were out of touch over the issue. "There are over 3,000 death each year in the UK due to inflammatory drugs and 500 from paracetamol use. According to the Home Office there have only ever been five deaths due to cannabis one of which was when a bail of cannabis fell on someone. The House is very much playing catch-up with public opinion on this issue." "People with illnesses such as Multiple Sclerosis are being criminalised and need action now. The problem is that I don't think that the government will do anything this side of the election," he said. Home Office minister Barbara Roche said the government would not support the bill: "The government believes it would be premature to amend the Misuse of Drugs Act before full scientific research has been carried out. This is a procedure that all new medication goes through." The Bill's second reading follows the publication of conflicting studies in the British Journal of Psychiatry. A review by Dr Philip Robson, commissioned by the Department of Health, emphasised the therapeutic potential of the drug for medical conditions where standard medical treatment is often "less than satisfactory".
After you have finished reading this article you can click here to go back.
|
This page was created by the Cannabis Campaigners' Guide.
Feel free to link to this page!