SURVEY SHOWS CANNABIS SUPPORT

Wellington: The Green Party is pushing its case for legalising the
medicinal use of cannabis with a survey showing a third of doctors would
consider prescribing it.

MP Nandor Tanczos, a cannabis law reform campaigner, said it was the first
such survey ever carried out.

"It is a reality check for those cannabis prohibitionists who seem
indifferent to the suffering of sick people and a wake-up call for the
Government," he said.

The survey was sent to 500 doctors selected at random and 45% responded,
giving a 6.5% margin of error.

The key findings included:

* One in five doctors have patients whom they know are using cannabis
medicinally.

* Forty seven percent reported knowing of patients who had discussed the
option of using cannabis.

* Thirty two percent would consider prescribing medicinal cannabis products
if they were legal. * Ten percent felt they had patients who would benefit
from it.

* Thirty percent indicated they should be able to prescribe it.

* The more knowledge a doctor holds, the more likely they are to support
the use of medicinal cannabis.

* There is a general lack of knowledge among doctors about it.

Mr Tanczos, who smokes cannabis for religious reasons, said the decision on
whether to use it as a medicine should be between a patient and their doctor.

"The problem is that doctors who now believe it is the best medicine can't
prescribe it," he said. The party's health spokeswoman, Sue Kedgley, said
it was "cruel and hypocritical" to deny sick people the use of cannabis.

"What is the logic of banning a herbal drug like cannabis while we happily
tolerate the use of morphine, a highly addictive class B drug with
significant side effects?"

A parliamentary committee which spent three years investigating cannabis
reported in August and said the Government should consider allowing doctors
to prescribe it.

Health Minister Annette King said she would wait for the results of British
trials, due later this year. A spokesman for Ms King told NZPA that the
situation was unchanged.