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'HPRA guidance is biased. It didn't use expert advisors with practical experience of cannabis'

The government position of claiming concern for safety with unnecessary delays requires a public protest, write Gino Kenny TD and Dr Peadar O’Grady.

IN JULY 2016, Bríd Smith TD and Gino Kenny TD moved the Cannabis for Medicinal Use Regulation Bill 2016.

It is appropriate that on the day of the Bill going into “detailed scrutiny” in the Oireachtas Health Committee that we set out the reasons why the Bill needs public support in order to pass the remaining two stages of the seemingly interminable Dáil process.

In short the People Before Profit Cannabis Bill will save lives and ease the suffering of tens of thousands.

An effective treatment for chronic pain

The Barnes report to the UK parliament last year confirmed what many people in Ireland already know, that cannabis is an effective treatment for those suffering chronic pain and illnesses like MS, intractable epilepsy and the symptoms of cancer or chemotherapy.

The Bill is the only way the majority of people who could benefit from cannabis can have legally protected access to quality controlled cannabis products.

The Cannabis for Medicinal Use Regulation Bill provides for the regulation of cannabis for medicinal use and to do this proposes to establish a Cannabis Regulation Authority to regulate distribution by issuing licences under the Act.

It also provides for a Cannabis Research Institute to improve the level of public knowledge and to develop research on the medicinal use of cannabis.

A legally protected, secure supply

Under the Act patients will be able to access from a pharmacy, with a doctor’s recommendation, a legally protected, secure supply of a quality-controlled cannabis-based product, that is effective, and safer than many authorised products, especially for pain relief.

The current government policy in the “Programme for a Partnership Government” states that: “We will support a health-led approach rather than a criminal justice approach to drug use.”

However, the government-sponsored alternative to the Bill the “Compassionate Access Programme” is neither compassionate nor will it provide access for the vast majority of people who could benefit from cannabis-based treatments as it excludes people suffering chronic pain without a credible explanation.

The existing government programme has restricted access from all but a handful of patients. This is sadly well illustrated in the case of Vera Twomey and her daughter, Ava, who has Dravet’s syndrome, and suffered up to 300 seizures a day before Vera started using a cannabis extraction as a medicine for Ava.

Health Minister Simon Harris has refused to authorise access for Ava and continues to criminalise other child and adult patients using cannabis-based treatments.

shutterstock_313444226 (1) Shutterstock / Africa Studio Shutterstock / Africa Studio / Africa Studio

HPRA guidance is unreliable and biased

The government claim they are supported by the Health Products Regulatory Authority report on the subject.

Unfortunately for them the HPRA guidance is unreliable and biased because it did not use any expert advisors with practical experience of cannabis for medicinal use and because the reasons given by the HPRA for restricting access are not applied consistently to other drugs, and do not take into account the serious risk of death and dependency caused by the existing authorised drugs such as opioids and benzodiazepines.

Existing prescription drugs are a growing concern as a cause of death and dependency, but the government and the HPRA are deliberately ignoring this concern.

No overall increase in recreational use has been associated with the legalisation of cannabis for medicinal use in the US and youth cannabis use for recreational purposes is actually falling there.

The government has rejected, without explanation, the progress in other EU countries and the United States where the benefits of medicinal cannabis are being seen. These benefits include not only pain relief and a reduction in seizures, but a reduction in the use of more toxic drugs, and a reduction in deaths from overdoses which happen frequently with opioid painkillers and benzos but never with cannabis.

Cannabis will improve health of overall population

Increased numbers of patients using cannabis-based products instead of more toxic alternative authorised medicines will result in a net improvement in the health of the population as a whole.

The Minister has left potentially hundreds of thousands of people suffering from chronic pain out in the cold by excluding them from accessing cannabis for medicinal use.

In the US the introduction of medicinal cannabis has seen drug overdoses and deaths reduce and drug sales of more dangerous drugs fall. Some of these drug companies whose sales are affected are lobbying against medicinal cannabis and making financial contributions to political groups opposing legislation.

According to a report in the Guardian newspaper last October the makers of well-known opioid painkillers Vicodin and Oxycontin are prominent financial supporters of anti-cannabis lobbies.

We can trust doctors to advise their patients

Doctors and pharmacists should be trusted to advise their patients, as for other more toxic medicines, of the risks and benefits and to recommend caution with populations at risk such as with children. There is nothing in the Bill which prejudges professional judgement or which attempts to influence how doctors or pharmacists carry out their professional duties.

What has to happen now is for the Cannabis for Medicinal Use Bill to go to Committee stage in the Dáil without delay. The government position of claiming concern for safety while ignoring the dangers of existing treatments, excluding the majority of patients and obstructing the Bill with unnecessary delays requires a strong public protest.

It is time to put “People Before Profit” and to back the Cannabis Bill. As Vera Twomey said last week: “Nothing else will do”.

Gino Kenny is the proposer of the Cannabis for Medicinal Use Regulation Bill 2016 and People Before Profit TD for Dublin Mid-West. Dr Peadar O’Grady is the People Before Profit Health advisor and is a child psychiatrist.

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102 Comments
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    Mute Bobby
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    Jun 6th 2014, 5:31 PM

    Id say those under 60 are not much better.

    64
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    Mute richardmccarthy
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    Jun 6th 2014, 4:47 PM

    I must be one of the 18%,ever since i stopped smoking 7 years ago i took to cycling excersize with a vengence, clocking up anything from 150/200 km per week on mostly coastal trips,as a form of excersize to help keep the body in shape it is very hard to beat, and would have no hesitation whatever in recommending it,just remember to wear proper hi vis clothing with helmet and a good pair of extra strong sole shoes used just for cycling shoes,and of course a good hibrid bike with strong tyres are a must.

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    Mute Emily Elephant
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    Jun 6th 2014, 5:41 PM

    You do 200k on a hybrid? Is your back made of titanium?

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    Mute richardmccarthy
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    Jun 6th 2014, 7:11 PM

    Well Emily i never had a problem with back strenght,and even hills are not a problem to me now,but as an ex marathon runner back in the eighties i know that regular exersize builds up mental as well as body strenght and things you once thought impossible you take them in your stride, cycling is easy compared to running marathons and of course the fact you enjoy it is a big plus.

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    Mute Emily Elephant
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    Jun 6th 2014, 7:52 PM

    Fair play to you. When my commute went to 11k my back said fook that, and it’s been a road bike ever since. Apparently someone did the Wicklow 200 on a DublinBike last year. Insane.

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    Mute Good News Caravan
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    Jun 6th 2014, 6:43 PM

    Old folk really are lazy. It takes an age to coax my grandma out the back garden for burpees and high intensity interval training.

    I take a carrot and stick approach whereby if she doesn’t go she gets her meals taken from her.

    Fair is fair after all

    35
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    Mute Dee4
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    Jun 6th 2014, 5:16 PM

    no reason not to be physically healthy through to your 70′s, use it lose it.

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    Mute Angelic Lestat
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    Jun 6th 2014, 4:57 PM

    I think the next generation or two will be much more physically active as they age.

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    Mute Marjorie Magee
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    Jun 6th 2014, 10:55 PM

    Some will, but many will be too fat.

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    Mute Hallie Burton
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    Jun 6th 2014, 6:46 PM

    OK then.
    No smoking in the car.
    No giant sized drinks.
    Get yer cervix checked
    Embrace a Gay lifestyle
    Don’t drink the water from a private well
    Make eyer mind up, do you want a fry or a bale of briquettes
    Be careful flying with a certain American Airline
    I think that’s it ,now off for a walk and just hope the TV is not nicked while I’m out. :-)

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    Mute Sheik Yahbouti
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    Jun 6th 2014, 11:42 PM

    Spot on, Hallie, my man:-)

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    Mute Marjorie Magee
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    Jun 6th 2014, 10:54 PM

    Exercise is the key to a healthy old age. I am in my sixties and do a lot more than the recommended amount. I feel the same as I did 40 years ago and have no stiffness and soreness of joints. But you have to like doing it…..

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    Mute Sheik Yahbouti
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    Jun 6th 2014, 11:40 PM

    I’m puzzled. In thread after thread the over sixties are vilified, or at least criticised for consuming health care, for drawing pensions (which they have worked for) and for having paid off their mortgages. Why the sudden interest in extending our lives? I had thought it could only be a couple of years before we received a cyanide pill in the post from Ms Burton and her Department of social protection (try saying that name with a straight face).

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    Mute Catherine Mill
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    Jun 6th 2014, 6:22 PM

    Nanny state.

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    Mute Marc O'Donoghue
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    Jun 6th 2014, 10:54 PM

    Fewer than half, not less than half.

    3
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