CALL FOR MORE RESEARCH INTO CANNABIS BENEFITS

A health professionals' group is calling for more research into the
therapeutic use of cannabis to be done before any law change.

A parliamentary committee has been considering whether the law should be
changed to allow cannabis use for medical reasons.

New Zealand branch president of The Thoracic Society of Australia and New
Zealand (TSANZ) Professor Robin Taylor said the therapeutic benefits of the
active ingredients of cannabis needed to be studied and clinical trials
carried out.

Prof Taylor said in a statement today that if cannabis was found to relieve
symptoms it should be allowed.

Drugs such as morphine were available for pain control.

Prof Taylor said if cannabis use was allowed it would need to be delivered
some other way than smoking. The active ingredient in cannabis - delta-9
tetrahydrocannabinol - was easily absorbed from the lungs by smoking it.

"However, a wide range of harmful substances are also inhaled at the same
time and the potential for harm may offset the potential for good,
particularly in respect to lung health."

The TSANZ represents doctors, nurses and scientists whose primary focus is
respiratory medicine.