NSW legalises medicinal cannabis

Medicinal marijuana is now legal in New South Wales (NSW) in Australia. The legalisation was the result of amendments to the state’s Poisons and Therapeutic Goods regulations.

NSW Premier Mike Baird says that with the change, doctors in the Australian state could legally prescribe medicinal cannabis for their patients beginning Monday, Aug 1, when the new rules takes effect. It would be made available for patients whom more mainstream treatments do not work, reports The New Daily.

In effect, it expands prescription of the drug to patients who had exhausted standard treatment options. In the past, only NSW patients enrolled in clinical trials in the state could avail of medicinal marijuana. The new rules permit physicians to apply to the NSW Health Board to prescribe cannabis-based products not on the Australian Register of Therapeutics Goods, reports Echo.

Baird said on Sunday, “People who are seriously ill should be able to access these medicines if they are the most appropriate next step in their treatment.”

Medicinal weed could be taken orally, smoked, injected or used as an oil. It has potential for treatment of arthritis, epilepsy, glaucoma, schizophrenia, sleep disorders and Crohn’s diseases.

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Source: InformOverload