MUM WANTS CANNABIS FOR DYING SON

FELICITY Marco wants to give cannabis to her dying son in a final effort to
ease his pain. He's just four years old.

Premier Bob Carr wants his proposed four-year cannabis trial restricted to
patients suffering wasting because of cancer and HIV, nausea from
chemotherapy, severe or chronic pain, muscle spasticity due to multiple
sclerosis and spinal cord injuries.

They must be 18 and over, but Mrs Marco's dilemma has added another
controversial dimension to the emotive debate of legalising cannabis for the
chronically ill.

Mrs Marco's son Alex has a rare form of leukodystrophy - a degenerative
condition of the central nervous system - and has been given four to six
years to live.

His mother yesterday backed the drug trial but urged the State Government to
make cannabis available to terminally ill children.

"It's meant to be a slow, painful, excruciating death. We'll look at
anything to try and make his life better," the Maitland mother told The
Daily Telegraph yesterday.

"It shouldn't make a difference if you're three or 30. If you're dying,
you're dying. If you're terminal, you don't need to worry about the
long-term side effects.

"Alex's organs will break down and he'll probably spend the last few years
of his life on morphine. I really don't want that, so if marijuana is an
option and it works in some other way than smoking it, then I'll do it".

Alex has gone blind, has to be fed through a tube, has no functioning bowel,
only knows four words and cannot sit or stand.

The Hunter Valley family has found alternative therapy, including remedial
massage, herbal medication and even putting water on magnets to "magnify"
its properties, eased his suffering.

Australian Medical Association president Kerryn Phelps yesterday backed the
trial but said a national policy for cannabis use to relieve symptoms in
certain patients should be implemented.

"There is a subset of patients for whom the only effective treatment is
cannabis," she said.

"As long as doctors and patients know what those side effects are . . . this
is not a valid argument against the trial."

But Drug Advisory Council of Australia executive officer David Perrin said
unlike morphine, there had been no rigorous testing of cannabis for pain
relief.

"Why would a doctor give cannabis to a patient with a serious illness when
the THC in cannabis causes the suppression of the human immune system?" he
said.

For Andrew, 23, a puff at age 17 led to him losing control.

Andrew, who did not want his surname revealed, was diagnosed with
drug-induced schizophrenia three years ago.

"It was like the whole world and a thousand eyes were watching everything I
did," he said.

The Chatswood man warned the government to "tread cautiously".

"I didn't know what kind of effect it would have on me. I got hooked on it
straight away and kept smoking more and more of it," he said.

"If I knew then what it would do to me, I'd never have smoked it."

Prime Minister John Howard yesterday reiterated his support as long as the
drug was prescribed.

He would not support patients growing marijuana and remained opposed to
decriminalisation.

"If it's spray, or a tablet of some description, I would in principle see
merit in it for cases where there are no other conventional medicines
available to reduce pain and to provide greater comfort," he said.