The Western Australian Government is open to forming a select committee to investigate barriers to patient access and other cannabis issues.
Legalise Cannabis WA’s two Upper House MPs, Dr Brian Walker and Sophia Moermond, have been calling for a select committee to explore issues such as affordability, patient access and prescription availability.
The WA Government has confirmed it supports a select committee into medicinal cannabis and also wants to consider commercial opportunities for the industrial hemp industry.
Dr Brian Walker told the ABC: “People travel a long way to find a doctor willing to actually stick their neck out and risk prescribing what has been a forbidden medication.”
He said the committee would be unbiased, including both Labor and Nationals MPs.
“I’m very much a proponent of cannabis, but if the committee produces evidence which suggests that my point of view is wrong, then this must be recognised as well.”
“It’s an open mind, it’s looking at the facts, it’s without any bias, and without any political favouritism.”
However, the Australian Medical Association of WA’s president Dr Mark Duncan-Smith said he was concerned about medicinal cannabis becoming a political issue that could “validate” the choice to illicitly use cannabis.
“From a doctor’s point of view, what we support is a proper investigation into medicinal cannabis for its clinical indications, how safe it is, how effective it is,” he said.
