Mum slams state for making son wait for medicinal cannabis

Lindsay Carter (right), with his mum Lanai. THE mother of a teen who uses medicinal cannabis oil has slammed the State Government for putting her son’s life in jeopardy. Lanai Carter said her 19-year-old son, Lindsay, was forced to wait for the state to approve the drug’s prescription, often leaving him in short supply. She said the state approval process was unnecessary as it duplicated a lengthy federal process. Her son takes medicinal cannabis oil capsules every day to help treat a rare brain tumour. Last week, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull rejected One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s call for an amnesty for unlicensed medical cannabis suppliers, saying illegal supplies of the drug could be harmful. But Ms Carter said Mr Turnbull’s claims were unrealistic and accessing the drug through legal means was “extremely difficult and extremely convoluted”. She called on the prime minister to give patients with life-threatening conditions the right to fast-track importing the drug. “Just when patients thought they would get some relief from November 1, last year, (former Health Minister) Sussan Ley made discretionary changes behind closed doors to the Therapeutic Goods Administration regulations,” she said. “The TGA and state approval processes are convoluted on their own let alone requiring both. “There is too much bureaucratic red tape for doctors on top of having to report to both federal and state health. Doctors are getting confused going between the two government levels.” Last week, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told the Albert and Logan News her government was moving “incredibly fast” and had introduced the first laws to address the use of medicinal cannabis. But she refused to comment on abolishing the extra state level regulations. “The complexity that some of the families are experiencing at the moment is because of the health regulations that need to be addressed,” she said. “We understand how important this issue is for many, many families across the state that is why my government has acted very quickly to bring the legislation in.” http://www.couriermail.com.au/questnews/logan/mum-slams-state-for-making-son-wait-for-medicinal-cannabis/news-story/68a4055f08c3af9479029402a434041f