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SA Democrats want medical cannabis
04-26-07|2GB

Marijuana should be medically prescribed to treat patients where conventional medications have failed, South Australian Democrats leader Sandra Kanck says.

Ms Kanck today said she would introduce a Bill to SA parliament by June to remove fines for marijuana possession if a person had a medical reason.

She said people with conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, AIDS and spinal injuries could benefit from cannabis use.

"All drugs are dangerous and all drugs have side-effects but many of them can have medicinal benefits as long as their use is strictly controlled," she said.

"We already use morphine for pain relief.

"Tightly controlled medical marijuana is a commonsense way of reducing the suffering of many South Australians."

Ms Kanck said marijuana could be administered through a vaporiser to remove the health problems associated with smoking.

Laws to enable the medical use of cannabis had been passed in 12 US states, Canada, Spain and the Netherlands, she said.

Ms Kanck said she would meet with the Australia Medical Association (AMA), which supports the limited use of cannabis for advanced HIV and cancer patients, once the legislation was drafted.

The Bill is the latest pitch by Ms Kanck to decriminalise and regulate the use of some illegal drugs in South Australia.

Last May, she claimed that ecstasy was not a dangerous drug and should have been given to the traumatised victims of the 2005 Eyre Peninsula bushfires.

In August, Ms Kanck used the protection of parliamentary privilege to detail how people can commit suicide and in December she attended the Enchanted Forest rave at the Adelaide Showgrounds to lobby for ecstasy pill tester kits.

SA Premier Mike Rann said he hadn't seen the proposal but had been opposed to other drug-related legislation put forward by Ms Kanck.

"I've always had a policy over 21 years in parliament of never commenting on a Bill unless I see what the legislation says," Mr Rann said today.

"One would be particularly cautious about Bills from Sandra Kanck."