Weed of compassion

MEMBER for Noosa Glen Elmes has praised the Public Health (Medicinal Cannabis) Bill 2016, calling it an act of humanity and compassion.
The Bill was passed unanimously in State Parliament last week and will now allow doctors to prescribe cannabis to patients throughout Queensland for health concerns such as severe epilepsy.
Mr Elmes has described the passing of the Bill as a prudent step toward lessening pain and suffering.
“I believe well-controlled and regulated medicinal cannabis has earned a place in our health-care system and is a humane response to the pain and suffering felt by so many in our community,” he said.
“Positive results from extensive research into the therapeutic benefits of medicinal cannabis led the Commonwealth Government to establish a national licensing scheme for medicinal cannabis products in February this year, which paved the way for Queensland to set up our own scheme.
“We are living longer thanks to medical advances but sometimes the side-effect of treatment is worse than the disease itself, particularly when the condition is terminal.
“Medicinal cannabis has also been proven to assist children living with severe epilepsy, for whom traditional medicines are ineffective. One must wonder what other brain or nerve disorders will be proven to benefit from its use in the future.”
In an electorate-wide survey conducted by Mr Elmes last year, 79 per cent of respondents supported voluntary euthanasia.
“If pain and suffering could be significantly reduced, and if a reasonable quality of life could be achieved with the use of medicinal cannabis, I wonder if that statistic would have been different,” he said.
“Before we can have a debate on euthanasia, we should have explored all of the possibilities of lessening pain and suffering, the kind that is so intolerable, that death seems to be the only option.
“Of all the forms of life that make up our amazing world, humans are the only ones with the ability to cure or ease suffering. When we know better we must do better and in this case I believe we have.”