Cannabis oil set for debate

| 10/10/2016 | 24 Comments

(CNS): When members return to the Legislative Assembly on Monday morning they will have the opportunity to debate the amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Law tabled Friday by Premier Alden McLaughlin. The PPM government has agreed to change the law to facilitate the prescribing of cannabis oil by doctors as a medical treatment after they were petitioned by local photographer Dennie Warren to enable his wife to lawfully use the extract to treat stage four lung cancer. The bill is understood to have cross-bench support but McLaughlin acknowledged there were challenges ahead.

While he pointed to some reservations in the medical community about the curative effects of the drug, as there is so far no confirmed scientific research that the oil can cure cancer, he said it was broadly accepted that it is “very useful in dealing with a range of symptoms” in cancer patients and other serious illnesses.

McLaughlin said that as a result, the government had decide to go ahead with the legalisation of its prescription for medical use only. The premier stressed that the drug in any other situation remains illegal, explaining that the way it was prescribed would be determined by the relevant doctor. He said it would still be controlled and only pharmacists would be allowed to dispense it.

He said there were still “some hurdles” to overcome about how doctors would source the oil, as it remains illegal in countries in the region, even Jamaica, though that is expected to change soon. The premier said doctors could make the decisions about sourcing and importing the medicinal oil.

“Although there are concerns, we don’t want people to suffer,” McLaughlin said as he presented the bill Friday afternoon, just before adjourning the parliament. Echoing comments he made last year when he announced the plans, he said the policy decision taken by his government was based on the idea of “hope and compassion over fear”.

Tags:

Category: Local News

Comments (24)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

  1. Herb Ivore says:

    As with sexuality and abortion, shouldn’t we all just be able to make the choice for ourselves?

  2. Anonymous says:

    Oooooh man.

  3. Anonymous says:

    Great progress, for us and pushed by the well connected, so thanks. BUT if this plant is accepted as ‘God’s creation’ and should be given a chance, why not consider decriminalization of marijuana for personal use?

    Not one MLA was willing to include this at this time but would prefer to leave young lost souls to pay price but again there must be members of the other well connected group who have no fears of spending time in prison for their personal use.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Smoking Ganga has destroyed thousands of Caymanians. Let’s not forget that. Northward is full of young men and women who all started smoking Ganga when they were young.

    • Anonymous says:

      Dummy. They are in jail not because it is bad. They are in jail because it is illegal.
      Illegal as a result of religious freaks like you.

      • Anonymous says:

        I’m not a religious freak and I a think it’s bad. How can high parents raise kids or relate to each other.

    • Soiled Son says:

      Ummh, yeah, while ganja may have been a contributing factor, growing without a father and mother are by far the greater reason that these boys find themselves in Northward…

  5. Anonymous says:

    The burning question of the day: Which will Cayman legalize first, marijuana or gay people?

    #blessed

  6. Anonymous says:

    I believe, in the interests of research, that all MLA’s should try it before judging…hell, might even improve the work rate…Eden might smile

  7. Anonymous says:

    That will be like sooo cool.

  8. Anonymous says:

    I wish anyone who votes against this could experience 5 minutes of the pain and suffering I’ve been through over the last decade. Please have a heart and let people get the medicine they need.

    • Anonymous says:

      Cannabis Oil is under limited pre-trial medical study and review – it’s not yet peer-reviewed medicine that any board-certified doctor should prescribe – and not for chronic pain. Patients with chronic pain should not be doing handstands and basting experimental oil into their rectum, they should be on doctor-prescribed oral-based analgesics and getting specialized care. Even if the rear-injected oil does no harm and doesn’t interfere with other drugs (which evidence shows it might), our quaint Legislative Assembly does not have the intellect or qualifications to understand or make medical calls like this – they just want votes. Acquiring oil via the international payment system is also going to put our very frail international custodial relationships (for local banks and money transfer businesses) under renewed financial strain and FATF scrutiny that our LA members are too dumb/or voteblind to understand. Getting the oil here will partially legitimize the transshipment of everything else that is criminal sourced throughout the Caribbean region putting us on reputational watch lists. Meanwhile, our short-sighted LA is willing to ignore our human and civil rights obligations – too worked up over Cannabis YouTube Videos – and are willing to trailblaze in an arena that even Jamaica knows not to tamper with. It’s really sad.

  9. Anonymous says:

    They should include decriminalization for possession of small amounts of the plant form and traces in urine and blood as well.
    Work places can still test employees for hiring but no court or jail time.
    So we themselves from having to waste time on it in the future

  10. Anonymous says:

    Well for a god fearing nation. How can they ban marijuana which was created by and is grown by god?

    Seems sorta hypocritical. But then again. Wouldn’t be churchy if it wasn’t hypocritical now would it? Can anyone say ban gambling but it’s okay to have bingos 8)

    • Anonymous says:

      God made the tree of knowledge of good and bad…what happened when Adam ate the fruit. God also makes poisonous plants. doesn’t mean we eat or smoke them. Opium, Heroin and Cocaine all come from plants…so your theory makes no sense.

      • Anonymous says:

        Cocaine is man made. So is opium and heroin. Marijuana is one of the only plant based drugs that you can literally pick off the tree and smoke.
        God made. Your examples are all man made.

        And god made poisonousness plants. But man had to sample them to find out if they were bad
        So, show me statistics or for that matter ANYTHING that points to marijuana use (not abuse) that is bad!

        I smoked marijuana every summer, all summer long. Infact, all day long sometimes 7 days a week, 8 hours a day. from 9 am to 4pm just before my parents got home from work. Also from the age of 14 until i was 19. Was never in trouble with the law. I always worked hard. And have had good jobs, been promoted in almost every job I ever had. Went to university, and for years now, I have been at the top of my career.

        I don’t smoke any more. At all. Due to the laws of Cayman and just because i out grew it.

        So, tell me again, why marijuana is bad. There are people with addictive personalities. Always will be. And for different reasons. Do we ban everything that we percieve can be dangerous to them, and then ban it from responsible people too? Whether it’s dangerous or not?

        If that’s your attitude. Great. Lets ban cars. Or motor bikes. Or scooters. Because there are lot of people on this island, that are dangerous drivers Hey….can’t let them hurt themselves or others. So, have fun walking to work.

        Lets ban alcohol. Because there is statistics that say, alcohol not only destroys organs, but promotes violence. Domestic or otherwise. Oh wait…that’s silly right?

        if you think those examples are just silly. So is outlawing marijuana.

        How much money would we save by freeing and not incarcerating people who smoke marijuana.

        People aren’t breaking into homes for their marijuana fix. They are breaking into people’s homes and stealing for much harder drugs than marijuana.
        And no where has any study been done, and proven. That says marijuana is a gateway drug that leads to harder drug use. Go ahead, try and find one. You can’t.

        Salt is bad if you use abuse it, so is soap, or anything else for that matter. Tell me one time you heard of anyone smoking marijuana and getting into a car accident. Or beating someone up while high on marijuana due to marijuana. Or domestic abuse on marijuana due to marijuana. Can’t say the same for alcohol huh?!

        The only thing you will find happening with marijuana users is the lack of doritos in that vicinity.

  11. Anonymous says:

    just get it done. end of story.

    • Anonymous says:

      Amen. I don’t smoke weed , But if it helps Cancer patients ease pain, why not . I Rebuke cancer in the name of Jesus.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.