Cairns MP Rob Pyne backs LNP defector Dickson’s marijuana push

Cairns MP Rob Pyne has thrown his support between Buderim MP Steve Dickson, who switched teams from the LNP to One Nation over medical marijuana policy. Cairns MP Rob Pyne has praised Buderim MP Steve Dickson for defecting from the LNP over its stance on medical marijuana but he is not ready to switch to One Nation. “I would certainly support Steve if he tables a Bill in parliament, though,” he said. Mr Dickson threw in the LNP towel last week at a media conference beside One Nation leader Senator Pauline Hanson after his former party refused to grant amnesty to parents who provided medicinal cannabis to their children.

Steve Dickson Member for Buderim announces he has joined Senator Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party, Buderim.

Mr Pyne also has backed the call for chronic pain and debilitating disease sufferers to have whole-of-plant access to the drug, rather than a market run by pharmaceutical giants. “Why should we pander to drug companies and give them a monopoly on a product that grows naturally?” he asked. “I’ve worked with Steve on this. His change to One Nation was a surprise. The marijuana reform issue was not. “He’s genuine about that issue. He’s gone to One Nation because they’ve let him prosecute that agenda. “I think politically, from that part of Queensland, he would have been better off staying in the LNP and getting One Nation preferences.” Trinity Beach-based campaigner Debbi Cliff, who is terminally ill with connective tissue disorder Ehlers Danlos syndrome, said she had been discussing the issue with Mr Pyne over the past two years. She said several pro-legalisation groups had merged to form CannaWarriors, a coalition which had protests planned for every capital city over the coming month. “People believe medicinal marijuana is legal and available in Australia,” she said. “It’s not. It might be legal but there are no doctors who can prescribe it because the bookwork they have to do is ridiculous. Yet they can prescribe a narcotic that hundreds of thousands of people in Australia overdose on every year.” http://www.cairnspost.com.au/lifestyle/cairns-mp-rob-pyne-backs-lnp-defector-dicksons-marijuana-push/news-story/9827a091c9cd4119d3cd6296ec23df7d