Cannabis pill unlikely to get nod

By AUDREY YOUNG political editor

The confidence and supply agreement between the minority coalition Government and the United Future Party may prevent serious consideration of using cannabis for medicinal use in the present term of Parliament.

But Greens MP Nandor Tanczos is calling for the Government to fund medical trials.

Prime Minister Helen Clark said yesterday that the Government would stick to the agreement, and United Future leader Peter Dunne said the agreement to leave the legal status of cannabis unchanged meant no change at all, including for medicinal use.

The health select committee has picked up the report of the previous Parliament's inquiry into the health effects of cannabis. The committee has not yet issued its own recommendations but some members, including chairwoman and Labour MP Steve Chadwick, and Mr Tanczos, the Greens drugs law reform spokesman, favour relaxing the law to allow medicinal use of the drug in pill form.

They believe there may be wider support for it on the committee.

Mr Dunne said it was "grossly premature" to be speculating about what the committee might recommend.

Not only had the committee not yet decided on its recommendations, once it had done so the Government would have to accept the recommendations "so there is a long path to go down".

Mr Tanczos was demonstrating "yet again his personal obsession is getting in the way of the facts".

Mr Tanczos said Mr Dunne was heartless and was taking an extremist position.

"His common sense agenda shows a lack of common humanity.

"Peter Dunne is willing to deny thousands of New Zealanders relief from debilitating pain because he has staked his political credibility on no change to the law."

Mr Tanczos said the Government should relax the law and fund trials on medicinal use, for example which strains would be best for which medical conditions.

Safeguards could be put in place by requiring that patients had the support of a doctor to ensure the drug was not abused.

"There are people suffering really badly, really heinously now, who are risking going to jail for using it."

Mr Tanczos said cannabis was best known for pain relief and for its anti-spasm qualities but it was also good for nausea relief and as an appetite stimulant.

He had a friend with HIV and the medication he took made him nauseous and he could not eat.

The cannabis addressed the nausea and stimulated his appetite so he ate properly.

National's spokeswoman and former practising doctor Lynda Scott said she would not support legalising medicinal use now but was open to being convinced by clinical trials. It would have to be approved by prescription and could not be smoked, she said.

The London trials involve spraying a plant extract under the tongue.

Health Minister Annette King is awaiting a report from Britain due out later this year on trials related to the medicinal use of cannabis, a spokesman said.

Meanwhile, cannabis - the most popular recreational drug after alcohol and tobacco - could win a new role as the aspirin of the 21st century, with growing evidence that its compounds may protect the brain against the damaging effects of ageing, the Independent reports.

Although the drug distorts perception and affects short-term memory, it may also help prevent degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's and motor neurone diseases.

Scientists at the Institute of Neurology in London said the huge potential of cannabis compounds was emerging, as understanding of the plant's biological and pharmacological properties improved.

Professor Alan Thompson and his colleagues wrote in Lancet Neurology: "Basic research is discovering interesting members of this family of compounds that have previously unknown qualities, the most notable of which is the capacity for neuroprotection."