Members of a Northland Grey Power group campaigning for medicinal marijuana are replacing the traditional Christmas wreath on their front doors with a cannabis leaf to protest new laws they say do not go far enough to help people ease their pain.
Otamatea Grey Power has been campaigning for more than 18 months for people in extreme pain or terminally ill to be able to have easy access to medicinal cannabis. Since then some other Grey Power groups have joined the campaign.
This week the Government announced legislation that would allow people with a prescription to pick up medicinal cannabis from a pharmacy, as well as making sure terminally ill people won't be prosecuted for having the drug.
The law change will ensure terminally ill people with less than 12 months to live won't be prosecuted for having illicit cannabis. Although it is not legal for them to use cannabis, they won't be criminalised for doing so.
Health Minister David Clark said the compassionate measure legalises what some people are already doing, and will ensure no prosecutions while the new prescribing framework is set-up. Much of the detail of how the new scheme will work is still unclear, but it aims to make medicinal cannabis more readily available for people with terminal illnesses or chronic pain.