Dr. Peadar O'Grady:

On the political issue, the reason legislation is required in the first place is that the medicinal and general use of cannabis has been politicised. The UN General Assembly recently commented that the prohibitionist approach to drugs generally was not helpful, to put it mildly, and has affected the way in which this plant and its products have been dealt with. Otherwise, this might have just been a plant that was discovered to have useful properties and developed in the usual way. Why is it coming through political avenues? Because of criminalisation. That is the shortest answer I can give.

There are many types of products, from vaping to aerosols to tablets. The variety of products is the reason this requires regulation. When somebody has a product it should be properly labelled. The user should know what is in it and have the opportunity to consult with a doctor. It is worth reminding the committee of what the status quo is. People are accessing cannabis from street sources and taking it on their own, or growing it on their own. They are making decisions about how much to take and how long to take it for without any medical consultation. This Bill would improve the situation.

I fully agree with the Senator in that the more research the better. The main reason research has not been carried out to date is illegality and lack of regulation. We need to regulate products so that they are consistent and can be consistently researched. We also need to make it legal to research them.