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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Report recommends discretion on medicinal cannabis use
Isle of Man Online
Monday 25 Jun 2001 LAW enforcers should show discretion when dealing with people who are caught using cannabis for medical, says a House of Key select committee. There is no known link between cannabis and pain relief, the committee says. But it does acknowledge research being done by UK scientists which may prove otherwise in the near future and recommends reconsidering making its use legal for medical reasons once the results of the research are published. And it adds: 'The committee expresses the hope that, where the use of cannabis by sufferers from chronic conditions can be genuinely attributed, whether misguided or not, to the relief of pain in a chronic medical condition, the Island's judicial authorities should exercise a degree of discretion in the pursuit of criminal charges.' The three-man committee, made up of Peter Karran, John Rimington and Steve Rodan, was formed a year ago to investigate cannabis use after a private member's bill, put forward by Mr Karran, received its second reading in the Keys. It heard evidence from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, the drugs and alcohol co-ordinator Margaret O'Reilly, the Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Department of Health and Social Security and the Isle of Man Medical Society. It also received unsolicited views from a Laxey man suffering from an illness he feels is eased by cannabis. The Misuse of Drugs (Cannabis) Bill would amend the Misuse of Drugs Act 1976 to allow doctors to issue licences to patients enabling them to use cannabis for relief from a variety of medical conditions, such as multiple sclerosis. If sufferers use cannabis at the moment, they must go through illegal channels to obtain it, therefore making them a criminal. Mr Karran strongly believes this should not be the case and the bill sought to provide the defence to any prosecution that the drug was being used for medicinal purposes. During today (Tuesday's) Keys sitting, he will move that the report be received. In the report, the committee says it realises that with the general election looming in October, this report, despite in effect being just an interim report, will be the final word of the current administration on the subject. In view of this, it is urging the next administration to keep an eye on the clinical research into the subject, with a view to re-introducing the same bill or an amended version. 'If there is any direct connection between pain relief in chronic conditions and the use of cannabis, the committee believes that those persons who genuinely do obtain pain relief should be able to do so without the stigma of criminalisation,' says the report. The committee stresses it doesn't support the general legalisation of the drug but adds it hopes the courts would use discretion when dealing with someone who may be using cannabis for pain relief.
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