Can marijuana save your life?

Medicinal Marijuana
Source: Muls, 2015 

Quite often, drugs are almost all of the time associated with violence, relationships being destroyed, unhealthy lifestyles, health problems and so on. But in some cases, research has found drugs such as the illegal marijuana to have health benefits (Medical Marijuana, 2015). 

Interestingly, hundreds of families across Australia are breaking the law by using medical marijuana, yet the Australian Medical Association says there isn't enough evidence to support legalisation (Rollins, 2015). However, the strongest argument against legalisation is that it could result in a significant increase in drug use and production by non qualified people.  Those suffering from chronic or terminal illnesses who use cannabis are desperate and other treatments have failed in easing their pain. 

It is very difficult in categorising whether or not this topic is a federal or a state issue. Firstly, the Federal Government oversees the approval of medical drugs for human health purposes, which makes the use of Marijuana for health reasons a federal issue (Department of Health, 2015). However, the legal aspects such as penalties of using Marijuana as a recreational drug are a State-level issue. So it is a bit of both governments depending on which way the issue is looked at. 

Just recently, the NSW government announced that the first trial of medicinal cannabis will begin in 2016 at a Newcastle Hospital. The argument was that the government does not want patients to have to play pharmacist and use the drug illegally at home (SBS, 2015). Another step towards legalising medicinal marijuana is that a parliamentary briefing in support of legalising it is happening, led by cross-party MPs and Professor David Penington AC. This means that Tony Abbott might act on a Bill that is due to be introduced in the Senate this month on finally decriminalising cannabis for medicinal use. It would bring Australia in line with other countries who’ve approved cannabis for medical use, including Spain, Germany, Canada and 20 American states (Smith, 2013). Abbot has made it clear on many occasions that he is in full support of legislation regarding the use of medical marijuana (Knott, 2014). From this, the future of legalising marijuana for medical purposes is becoming very positive. 

If legislation was to be changed regarding the use of marijuana, it would only be for qualified personal to manufacture and use on patients, and not for anyone to grow the drug in their backyard for recreational purposes. 

References:
Department of Health 2015, Medicinal Marijuana, viewed 4 September 2015, http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/MC14-007515-medicinal-cannabis

Knott, M 2014, 'Tony Abbott backs legalisation of medical cannabis', The Sydney Morning Herald, viewed 4 September 2015, http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-backs-legalisation-of-medical-cannabis-20140917-10i6eb.html

Medical Marijuana 2015, Marijuana and its uses, viewed 4 September 2015, http://medicalmarijuana.com.au

MULS 2015, 'Medicinal Marijuana', digital image, viewed 4 September 2015, www.muls.org

Rollins, A 2015, Put medicinal cannabis to the test: AMA, viewed 4 September 2015, https://ama.com.au/ausmed/put-medicinal-cannabis-test-ama

SBS 2015, 'Australia's first medicinal cannabis trial begins', SBS, viewed 4 September 2015, http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/07/27/australias-first-medicinal-cannabis-trial-begin-newcastle-next-year

Smith, H 2013, 'Legalising medical cannabis in Australia', Australian Medical Student Journal, vol. 4, issue 1, pp. 56 - 58.