Pubdate: Fri, 01 Oct 1999 Source: Australian, The (Australia) Copyright: News Limited 1999 Contact: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/ Author: John Ellicott GPS, LAW BACK MARIJUANA RETHINK LEGAL and doctors' groups joined forces yesterday to call for the legalisation of prescription marijuana for people with severe medical conditions. The NSW Government indicated yesterday it would not immediately rule out any move that would decriminalise marijuana for medical use. Marijuana would have to be grown legally to support any such move, the convenor of the Australian Committee for Medical Cannabis, Timothy Moore, said. The NSW Law Society and the Australian Medical Association said cannabis for medical use had been legalised in parts of the US and there was no reason this should not happen in Australia. Most State law societies and AMA branches were supporting the move. It is believed up to 10 per cent of AIDS patients already use marijuana to help keep up body weight and maintain food intake. NSW AMA president Kerryn Phelps said many doctors already encouraged patients who used marijuana to relieve their symptoms to continue using the drug. "Common sense dictates that we already have enough evidence for this," Dr Phelps said. "We think there should be exemptions for such people immediately. If marijuana doesn't work for them, they won't use it, and if it has some side effects they won't continue using it. "As far as I can see, legalising prescription marijuana is a win win situation." An HIV-positive person and a leukemia sufferer both expressed their need for the drug yesterday. Wollongong HIV support group spokesman David Wain said he had been viewed as "a criminal" for most of his life for being gay, and now he was another type of criminal for using marijuana to help him through his HIV condition. Mr Wain, 51, said he "could not have survived without cannabis". "This is not an easy thing for me to come out to and talk about, I have a son and family, but like my sexuality I don't think I am breaking the law by smoking marijuana." Leukemia sufferer Paul Deconning said without marijuana he could not have eaten three meals a day after going through chemotherapy treatment. NSW Law Society president Margaret Hole said she could see no reason why the law could not be changed to exempt people who needed marijuana for their conditions. "Drug use and abuse is primarily a health and social issue not a criminal one and it should be addressed as such," Ms Hole said. NSW Attorney-General Jeff Shaw said he would consider the proposal. Mr Moore said he believed if the move was approved, there would have to be legal marijuana crop plantations set up to support the service. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake