Mr. Martin Condon:

From a patient's perspective, a patient should be able to get access to cannabis through their health professionals. When it comes to how much cannabis a patient should be allowed, that should be decided between the patient and their doctor. It is common practice that a patient would normally have a month's worth of their prescription on hand in order to do whatever it is that needs to get done within that month.

We were talking about wider adult use of cannabis. I do not see why there is a need for arbitrary limits, which is what they are at the end of the day - just arbitrary limits. When it comes to things like alcohol and tobacco in society, if a person goes down to the shop, they can buy as much alcohol or tobacco as they like. It is not until we see that there is an intention there, or that they are breaking a law in terms of illegally selling that afterwards, that they become a target of the authorities. Cannabis should be treated differently. A person should be allowed to have as much cannabis as they would like to have at home, and as many cannabis plants as they would like to have at home. The onus should be on the authorities to prove lawbreaking. Simply having a huge amount of cannabis is not proof they were going to sell it afterwards and thus break the law. When we talk about other drugs, personally I have no problem with the wider decriminalisation of all drugs. I am not talking for Patients for Safe Access when I say that. Arbitrary limits are only going to put pressure on people on the street. They will not do much to tackle the problem of drug dealing. We need a proper and safe supply of drugs to people who use drugs. In such circumstances, the worry of drug dealers will go away. If you can get safe access to your drug of choice through whatever regulated means that may be, you do not have to support drug dealers afterwards. There should not be arbitrary limits on the amount in your possession. The focus should be on the point of supply and the safety of that supply of the drug as well.