Presenting a new resource to MPs

Medical Cannabis Awareness New Zealand (MCANZ) is presenting its latest resource to the 2 MPs most engaged in the Medical Cannabis debate, Chloe Swarbrick and Shane Reti, on Tuesday the 27th of November, at 935am in a meeting room in parliament house, hosted by Shane Reti. Patients will be gathering in the foyer from 9am.

The resource, titled "Medical Cannabis Around The World: A handbook guide analyzing medical cannabis regimes and their impacts" is a timely resource as the Govt Cannabis bill looks to pass by years end, with scant detail of how the system will work.

"The Govt bill basically leaves all the power in the hands of David Clark and unelected officials in the MOH, whether we follow a loose scheme like California or an unworkable system like Australia has yet to be determined." Says MCANZ Coordinator Shane Le Brun.

"We hope our resource adds an alternative balanced voice for progress to inform the debate as progress on regulations gets underway next .year" Says MCANZ Coordinator Shane Le Brun

"This resource has been planned since May this year as the select committee was grappling with this very issue of the nature and shape of the regulations," Says MCANZ Coordinator Shane Le Brun.

"The booklet went through several revisions as other Countries moved quite rapidly in this space, the multiple changes in the UK this year should be a source of embarrassment for NZ" Says MCANZ Coordinator Shane Le Brun.

"We were supposed to have an Advisory committee organized in March, that has stalled and has yet to be announced. This advisory committee could have dealt with secondary issues out of scope of the bill, and perhaps salvaged the select committee process, which turned into a circus" Says MCANZ Coordinator Shane Le Brun.

"Patients are frustrated by how that process went, as the call for broader access was virtually unanimous, and any attempt to advocate for the finer details was deemed 'out of scope', frustrating patients who were promised so much more by Labour at the last election. With the current timelines, Labours 100 day promise my drag to 1000 days when all is said and done."

"We hope that the Govt can Step things up a notch in 2019, with the bill passed by then, a budget surplus that could be used on external consultants, and a bipartisan approach to setting the regulations, it is still possible to restore the confidence of patients in the political process, and deliver something that works for patients."

Labours election campaign of a 100 day promise to legalize for medical purposes has turned into planned roll out closer to 1000 days.

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