Health Minister Andrew Green has responded after 28-year-old Islander Daniel Clark, who is wheelchair bound following a motorbike accident ten years ago, offered to prove to doctors that cannabis was better at alleviating his pain than prescription drugs.
Mr Clark, who says his pain is so severe he has considered selling his home and moving to a place where the class B drug is legal, has twice offered to be admitted to hospital for a two-week period in which he would spend a week using cannabis and a week on pharmaceutical painkillers.
Senator Green says that although he sympathises with Mr Clark’s predicament the current evidence was that cannabis can have long-term negative impacts on users’ health.
‘It is the long-term affects that we are worried about.
‘No doctor would ever sanction such a test.
‘All the evidence we have at the moment is that the long-term negatives are not acceptable for the short-term benefits.’
Mr Clark had also stated that he wanted to meet Senator Green ‘one on one’ to share his views and the minister said it is something he would welcome.
‘I have no problem at all meeting Mr Clark, he has never contacted me but I would welcome it. I always like talking to people. I know Mr Clark has his problems and he is trying to find a solution but the evidence is that he could cause more harm than good.’
The Health Minister has powers to allow the use of drugs that derive from cannabis on the back of medical advice. Senator Green said each case is treated independently.
