(image via flickr)The New Zealand government has inched a little closer to making medicinal cannabis accessible in New Zealand.Under changes announced by the government today, approval to use medicinal cannabis-based products will no longer need sign-off from a health minister. Associate Minister of Health Peter Dunne released a statement this morning, saying he's transferring decision-making responsibility for medicinal cannabis applications to the Ministry of Health.It was his "ongoing expectation that medical professionals consider the prescribing of cannabis-based products with an open mind," Dunne said.
He says in the statement that originally, it was best for the decision to lie with the Minister, so health officials weren't exposed to risk of blame."When applications first began to be received it was my view that the final decision appropriately lay at Ministerial level, rather than exposing officials to risk, given the complicated and contentious nature of the issue—that is to say the buck stopped with me"."I have approved every application that has come before me with a positive recommendation—within a matter of minutes once the application came across my desk.Since then, however, Dunne said the situation had changed, and there were clearer guidelines for health officials to follow."Since the first application was approved, guidelines have been developed, consulted on and simplified to allow specialists who are interested in accessing such products for their patients a clear, straight-forward and unobstructed pathway to acquiring the appropriate products."I am satisfied that with the development of these guidelines, and with a number of successful applications having been subsequently completed, any risk associated with the early processes has largely abated and I have confidence in the Ministry of Health to handle the process in its entirety from now on.For advocates and patients looking to use medicinal cannabis to treat their conditions, the shift means one less hoop to jump through—and appears to mark an overall loosening of the Government's stance on cannabis-based products.Follow Tess on Twitter.
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He says in the statement that originally, it was best for the decision to lie with the Minister, so health officials weren't exposed to risk of blame."When applications first began to be received it was my view that the final decision appropriately lay at Ministerial level, rather than exposing officials to risk, given the complicated and contentious nature of the issue—that is to say the buck stopped with me"."I have approved every application that has come before me with a positive recommendation—within a matter of minutes once the application came across my desk.Since then, however, Dunne said the situation had changed, and there were clearer guidelines for health officials to follow."Since the first application was approved, guidelines have been developed, consulted on and simplified to allow specialists who are interested in accessing such products for their patients a clear, straight-forward and unobstructed pathway to acquiring the appropriate products."I am satisfied that with the development of these guidelines, and with a number of successful applications having been subsequently completed, any risk associated with the early processes has largely abated and I have confidence in the Ministry of Health to handle the process in its entirety from now on.For advocates and patients looking to use medicinal cannabis to treat their conditions, the shift means one less hoop to jump through—and appears to mark an overall loosening of the Government's stance on cannabis-based products.Follow Tess on Twitter.