CWA pushing for cannabis pain trials

THEY won't be adding hashish to the cookie mix any time soon -- but
the Coraki CWA ladies are warming to the possibilities of marijuana.

Perhaps better known for lamington drives and knitting groups, the
conservative Country Women's Association (CWA) has launched a
controversial push to trial cannabis for pain relief.

While they don't support recreational drug use at all, the medical
trial has the support of many of the Coraki ladies.

"Thirty years ago I would have been horrified at the thought," Coraki
CWA vice-president Mary Hearn, 77, said yesterday.

"I don't like drugs at all, but I think marijuana has great potential
for those in severe pain -- I have seen it work."

President of the Coraki branch, Ruth Blanch, 88, also knows those who
have used the illegal drug to provide pain relief, but added: "Any
trial would need to be very carefully monitored."

The decision to lobby for medical trials of the drug was made at the
CWA Australia's national conference in Darwin last month.

"This is a health issue -- we don't see it any differently from any
other health issue such as doctor shortages in rural areas," CWA
Australia president Leslie Young, from Tasmania, said.

"Cannabis is just another drug that can potentially help people with
chronic pain. The opiates are all illegal too -- but we make them
available for pain relief."

Member for Ballina Don Page said he also supported a medical trial:
"I'm supportive of using prescribed cannabis for the terminally ill
or where conventional drugs are destroying the person's organs. But
it needs to be prescribed by a doctor."

The CWA cannabis decision has made the CWA ladies a new friend in
Michael Balderstone, spokesman for the Nimbin Hemp Embassy, who was
yesterday delighted to hear the CWA had taken up his pet cause.

"I imagine the CWA will be much better listened to than us hippies,"
Mr Balderstone said.

"Marijuana works. It can act like a magic cure for pain relief, they
are the best painkilling plants on the market."

Mr Balderstone said cannabis was often useful in the relief of the
side effects of chemotherapy, arthritis, glaucoma and pain relief in
terminal illnesses.

"Many older people are coming to see us at the Hemp Embassy who are
either already using cannabis or want to use it for pain relief," Mr
Balderstone said.

"The word is out there that it works.

"We've had busloads of Ballina retirees visiting Nimbin and they
aren't coming for the scenery ..."