According to the Ministry of Health, National's medicinal cannabis law could harm patients and would not increase access



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ROSS GIBLIN / STUFF

Simon Bridges and Dr. Shane Reti announce their party's version of a medicinal cannabis bill.

Ministry of Health analysis of National Party medicinal cannabis bill says it would not make cannabis products much more available than they already are, but National says the ministry is wrong. Office published in Stuff contains several critics of the bill members lobbed by the Ministry of Health.

The main criticism is that this bill would not substantially increase access to cannabis products. "De-schedule" of a list of controlled substances for illegal drugs.

But the sponsor of the bill, Shane Reti, says the analysis is flawed because his bill would remove Cannabidiol (CBD) from cannabis. list of controlled substances by making it a "pharmacist-only drug".

The analysis suggests that the bill goes too far in another area – allowing patients to pick up cannabis products repeatedly with a doctor.

  National Party MP Dr. Shane Reti Announces Medicinal Cannabis Bill

ROSS GIBLIN / STUFF

National Party MP Dr. Shane Reti

This could expose patients with side effects and unhealthy combinations with other drugs.

"The Ministry recommends maintaining the need for access to prescription medicinal cannabis products. "Medications can have side effects and contraindications with other medications," the analysts wrote.

The Reti Bill was announced on Wednesday – the same day that the medical cannabis bill was fired.

The National Member is the Vice-Chair of the Special Committee on Health, and the government argued that his suggestions could have been constructively added to his own bill rather than being incorporated into a new bill. law Project. His bill should be drawn from the draw and attract the support of NZ First or the Greens to pass a law.

Reti called this analysis a "desperate attempt by the government to discredit the work that he did".

He said making cannabis products available in pharmacies "would dramatically improve access" and that his bill actually canceled CBD from controlled substances.

"We only allow them as pharmacists," said Reti.

"The department is contradicting itself, and it is appropriate for my bill to reschedule CBD and THC, and then declare that it wants to maintain the statute of limitations only for the CBD when we are making a huge improvement to the CBD. 39, access by making it available in pharmacy.

"Our bill improves secure and structured access It avoids prescriptive concepts in favor of a structured collaborative discussion with the Community pharmacies. "

The MedSafe drug registration agency is already able to approve cannabis products, but with a single product, Sativex However, since the ingredients are on the calendar Controlled drugs, ministerial approval is technically required for all orders – even though Health Minister Peter Dunne announced that this would no longer be necessary in 2017.

Reti said that his bill would allow FastStrack MedSafe consenting for other products by allowing interim consent. But the ministry argues that this path already exists and has not led to an increase in access.

"That means you can go to the market and then the clinical trials follow," said Reti

. the development of an internal market, which according to Reti could bring down prices up to two-thirds.

The government bill would maintain the need for prescriptions for medicinal cannabis products and remove cannabis oils as controlled drugs.

According to National's bill, patients would receive a photo ID card from a doctor or nurse after asking the Director General of Health for permission to use cannabis products.

Once a patient had this card, he could access an undefined amount of medicinal cannabis in a pharmacy without needing a prescription each time. The card would last up to 12 months, and there would be no requirement for clinical consultation or ongoing examination with the doctor or nurse.

The government's bill would also introduce a temporary legal defense for the possession and consumption of cannabis patients, until more safe cannabis products are available.

National's bill would ban any loose-leaf or edible cannabis.

Reti pointed out that some expert commentators have expressed more support for the National Bill than the government.

Ross Bell of the New Zealand Drug Foundation stated The AM Show that he was cautious in supporting the bill because it provided many details that the government's bill did not contain. He criticized the party for not presenting the legislation in a more constructive way though.

Polling suggests that an overwhelming majority of New Zealanders want marijuana to be legalized for the relief of pain and for terminally ill patients. – Tips and Tricks

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