Medicinal cannabis users cautiously welcome Federal Government's announcement

Meredith Griffiths

People who use medicinal cannabis say they are cautiously optimistic about a move by the Federal Government to loosen importation laws.

The Government said it would make it easier for approved providers to import medical products from reputable suppliers overseas.

The ABC spoke to those who use medicinal cannabis about their thoughts on the announcement.

Five-year-old Katelyn Lambert has been the face of a campaign calling for better access to medicinal cannabis.

Her father Michael said it had greatly reduced the number of seizures she experienced due to her Dravet syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy.

Mr Lambert gives his daughter a combination of hash which he grows and a hemp-extract which he illegally imports from Europe, where it is sold over the counter.

He said the announcement would not mean anything unless more doctors actually started prescribing medicinal cannabis.

Mr Lambert said he understood there were only about 24 authorised prescribers in Australia but said patients did not know who they were or how to contact them.

Michael and Ben Oakley

Ben Oakley, 21, suffers from a rare, one-in-a million neurological disease called stiff-person syndrome.

He sources cannabis oil on the black market to relieve his excruciating and debilitating pain, but his father Michael said it was not easy.

"It's easier to get a firearm in Australia than it is to get medicinal cannabis," he said.

"I'm aware of a person who spent nine months trying to get a supply of medicinal cannabis and was issued with three months of that supply, so they had to go through the process all over again," he added.

The Oakleys hope the announcement will mean patients can finally get genuine access to a herbal product which can and does save lives.

But Michael Oakley said several tonnes of products would need to be imported.

"The Government honestly has no real clue on the actual demand on this because people are still too afraid to come forward," he said.

"Once this is available — people can get access to it — the demand is going to outstrip supply tenfold.

"They need to move on this and they needed to move on it last February, let alone now."

Lorraine and Hunter Elwell

Lorraine Elwell has been sourcing cannabis oil on the black market for her 12-year-old son Hunter, who also has Dravet syndrome.

Hunter used to have hundreds of seizures a day but his mother said medicinal cannabis had fixed that.
"We probably see maybe one or two seizures every couple of days instead of more than that per hour," Ms Elwell said.

"Because of that he's been able to lower a lot of his meds and that has made him more alert, more aware what's going on.

"His cognitive ability has got better, he's learning to speak again and he's currently learning to eat orally again."

She said the Government's announcement would not make a difference to her son's wellbeing if all that was imported was the product Epidiolex, made by the British company GW Pharmaceuticals.

"It's not working for a lot of kids with his actual diagnosis so I won't be swapping to that because he could be put at risk — he needs what he's getting," she said.

"If we take him off what he's got now — which took a long time to perfect for him — if we take him off now and start using something completely different which doesn't access the whole plant, it could kill him.

"He could go back to having seizures all the time."

Ms Elwell said she was grateful the Government was starting to take a step "in the right direction" but she said if it really wanted to help Hunter it would allow existing local black market suppliers to grow cannabis legally.

"I'm kind of feeling like it's still big pharma controlling it," she said.

"Although its a step in the right direction — and I'm very, very happy that it is — I really wish they would start looking at people here that are already supplying many people rather than having to go offshore and start using something that probably isn't really working for many of us."

Marie Marchetta

Marie Marchetta is a 54-year-old with terminal cancer, after the disease spread from her breast to her liver.

She said cannabis oil, which she has been sourcing on the black market for about 18 months, eased her pain, alleviated her nausea and helped her sleep.

Ms Marchetta was thrilled to hear Greg Hunt's announcement.

"I think it's wonderful that people don't feel like they're doing something wrong," she said.

"It's a necessary thing — we're not going to be abusing it so I'm glad that the Government is on board with this."

She said she hoped the announcement would prompt doctors to start prescribing medicinal cannabis.

"I'm tired of going to doctors, oncologists, saying 'can you please surprise me?' and they'll go 'no, we won't touch it, no we're not doing that yet'," she said.

Ms Marchetta said she would now go back to her doctors to ask again for a prescription and would not stop until they did.

"I want my oncologist to supply it to me, I want to know that I'm getting the right thing," she said.

"The black market sometimes is not going to give you the right thing and that's a bit of a worry — I want it given to me legally and I want the right dosage for me, so I'm hoping this is going to happen and I'll push for it."