NSW Committee to Release on May 17 Findings on Medical Marijuana Inquiry

The results of a New South Wales (NSW) parliamentary committee inquiry on the possible legalisation of medical marijuana use in the Australian state is slated for release on May 17, next Friday.

The report is the result of public hearings held in March on the effectiveness and safety of using cannabis or weed as a medicine.

Among those advocating for marijuana's legalisation are MS patients who said the stuff relieves them of muscle-binding pain by reducing muscle stiffness which is part of the ailment's neurological condition.

If the NSW would favour weed's medical use, it would join the growing list of countries and states that allow residents with medical needs such as those in New Zealand, Canada, Israel, 14 European countries and 18 U.S. states.

So far, a mouth spray version of medical marijuana sourced from cannabis secretly grown in UK and marketed under the brand Sativex has been registered by the Therapeutic Goods Administration in Australia as medicine for MS patients and trialled on cancer patients in four local hospitals as part of an international study.

However, beyond the clinical trials, Sativex is not yet legally approved as a prescribed medicine in Australia.

Lesley Brydon, the chief executive officer of the advocacy group Pain Australia, favours the legislation of medical marijuana but believes it should be in the form of a pill or spray to prevent self-medication by smoking the raw weed whose dosages could not be controlled.

Another group, Cancer Voices, said it would ease pain and prevent vomiting caused by most cancer medication as one of the side effects.

Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, the state's medical marijuana regulation will take effect on May 24, Friday, following the finalisation of the rules by Massachusetts public health officials. However, it would take several months before there would be medical marijuana dispensaries, although patients could grow their own supply until such time that the dispensaries are in place.

The department is planning about 35 dispensaries but they would likely open only before the end of 2013.