CHILDREN with severe epilepsy will be treated with marijuana grown or imported by the NSW government as part of a landmark trial announced yesterday.
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In a stunning victory for Tamworth’s push to legalise medical marijuana, Premier Mike Baird revealed $9 million had been earmarked for clinical trials probing how cannabis can help epileptic children, terminally ill patients and cancer sufferers battling chemotherapy-induced nausea.
Medical trials are seen as a critical forerunner to legalisation.
It comes eight months after Tamworth’s Haslam family became the public face of the push for more compassionate medical marijuana laws.
Lucy Haslam described yesterday’s announcement as the single biggest step towards medical cannabis reform since the campaign started.
“I’m elated and am especially pleased the kids will be such a strong focus (of the trials),” Mrs Haslam said.
“Children weren’t even considered in Kevin Anderson’s original bill and to think we’re at this point now is amazing. It’s definitely people power that has achieved this ... we won’t go backwards from here.”
The announcement coincides with moves last week by the Victorian government to become the first state to legalise the drug for people with terminal illnesses or life-threatening conditions.
The NSW government will establish a medical cannabis expert panel led by NSW Chief Medical Officer Dr Kerry Chant.
“If we have evidence that medical cannabis has the potential to change lives, then we need to do something about it,” Mr Baird said.
A Centre for Cannabinoid Research will be set up at the University of Sydney, and doctors from The Children’s Hospital Westmead and Sydney Children’s Hospital will help oversee the trials for epileptic children.
Mr Baird said if medical-grade cannabis could not be sourced from overseas, the government would establish a “homegrown industry”.
“Once we have the clinical evidence that medical cannabis can reduce suffering, then the government will consider a range of supply measures, including importation. But if that does not prove successful, then the government will assume responsibility for supply itself,’’ he said.