DEANERY DEFENDS LASER-ACUPUNCTURE TREATMENT TRIALS FOR CANNABIS ADDICTION

Christchurch: Trials of a laser-acupuncture treatment for cannabis
addiction do not require ethics committee approval, the Christchurch drug
and alcohol rehabilitation centre running them says.

The Deanery on Monday began trials of the Scandinavian "cure",
low-frequency laser-acupuncture, amid claims the new technology could stop
cannabis use and pave the way to treat other dependencies.

But Canterbury ethics committee spokeswoman Sue Johnson said the committee
had "some real concerns" about the treatment, performed by a Swedish
acupuncturist at the private centre.

Ms Johnson said protocols on any research trials on humans were normally
forwarded to the regional ethics committees for approval.

"Our brief is to protect the individual participants. We don't know how
their privacy is being protected, [nor] how consent was obtained."

Deanery director Ewen McLeod said the committee's approval was not required
for alternative treatments.

"We're a full medical centre with our own doctor and under the control of
the health and disability commissioner," he said.

"We've been very much encouraged in what we are doing."

Ms Johnson said the committee would write to the Deanery about its concerns
at the ethics of the trials.

Alternative treatments in New Zealand were something of a "grey area" as
far as requiring ethics approval, she said. "We can't force them to do it
but, at the same time, it's a concern."

The centre was unlikely to have the results of the trials published in a
reputable medical journal without that approval, Ms Johnson said.