Dr. Peadar O'Grady:

We cannot do research without subjects for the research. Without a way in which cannabis can be used medically, there is not really an avenue for developing that research. The amount of research that is necessary to get a drug passed is actually not a lot. That is why there is provision for a research institute in the Bill. The two processes, research and decriminalisation, should work together. If the Senator is saying that one is the horse and the other is the cart, it is not that simple. I will let Professor Finn respond to the issues about research in more detail. The major obstacle to research at the moment is criminalisation. The major obstacle that is removed by this Bill is criminalisation. We are not telling patients, doctors, pharmacists, manufacturers or anyone else what to do in this Bill. We are just providing that it is no longer a criminal act as long as it is done in a regulated way, with licences, a regulatory authority and statutory provision to ensure it is done in a proper way.

On having doctors rather than consultants prescribe, I ask the committee to remember that both doctors and consultants are experts. A need for a specialist consultant to get involved rather than a GP would be based on the skills and knowledge necessary. However, the big problem at the moment is that people do not have the skills and knowledge. Saying that only a consultant should prescribe would make sense if consultants were the only ones who had the skills and knowledge to do so. The stark reality that nobody has the skills and knowledge. One does not have to be a consultant to acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to make that recommendation. Every doctor still has the opportunity to refer on to a specialist should additional expertise be required.