CANNABIS REPORT IN HAZE OF UNCERTAINTY

Divided MPs inquiring into legalising cannabis failed to deliver a report
before the election was called on Tuesday.

This has created uncertainty about whether Parliament's health select
committee will complete the report, and has prompted a claim that opponents
of legalisation have tried to quell debate.

The committee's inquiries into cannabis, and into Northland women's doctor
Graham Parry, hover over a black hole between yesterday's end of this
Parliament and the start of the next.

It will be up to the new committee whether to carry on with the inquiries
because they were initiated by the previous committee, rather than by
Parliament itself.

Outgoing chairwoman Judy Keall, a Labour MP who is retiring from politics,
said yesterday she was certain the next committee would pick up the Parry
inquiry, even if it was dominated by Labour.

The Alliance broke ranks with Labour last year, joining National and Green
members of the committee to set up the inquiry, which also looked at
quality assurance processes.

But Mrs Keall appeared less sure about the future of the inquiry into the
legal status of cannabis and how best to minimise its use and associated harm.

"My guess is that it may proceed ... It's more likely there may be an
interim report because of the diversity of opinion [among members]."

She said her committee's reports on both inquiries had been held up by
having to deal first with higher-priority business, such as district health
board financial reviews.

A spokesman for pro-cannabis lobby Norml, Mike Harding, said his group was
upset that the committee had failed to report before the election.

MPs opposed to liberalising cannabis laws had tried to "bury the subject",
he said, but Norml would resurrect it as an election issue.

The inquiry into Mr Parry, begun after a string of complaints about him, is
near completion.

The Medical Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal found him guilty of
disgraceful conduct over his mismanagement of a patient, Colleen Poutsma,
who later died of cervical cancer.

Mr Parry has been found guilty of two lesser charges involving other
patients. He has appealed against one of those rulings and is awaiting the
penalty decision on the other.

He was judged not guilty of three other charges.

A spokeswoman for Health Minister Annette King said she anticipated the new
committee would complete the Parry report "because they are well down the
track".