Rosalie Woodruff MP | Greens’ Health spokesperson
More than 62% of Australian GPs polled have been asked about access to medical cannabis by their patients in the last three months, according to the British Medical Journal.
Just 10% of GPs were able to navigate the maze of bureaucracy, and the majority wanted a simpler approval process without the need to refer to a specialist.
In response to Greens’ questions in Parliament, Minister Ferguson seemed content only six Tasmanian patients have accessed medical cannabis since the scheme started 10 months ago – another six to nine are suffering on a waiting list.
Health Minister Michael Ferguson’s Controlled Access Scheme is overly-bureaucratic, with patients being effectively locked out of access to medical cannabis.
The alternatives to medical cannabis are more dangerous, not less. Drugs like codeine, morphine and other opiates are potentially addictive and have other side-effects.
The Liberals’ so-called access scheme does not reflect a genuine assessment of medical risk, or patient need.
It is a controlled access scheme that controls access so tightly it fails to provide treatment to the people who most need it.