Dr. Garrett McGovern:

I will not ask Professor Smyth a question, but one of the reasons that the evidence base for medical cannabis is not as strong as it should be is that it is very hard to assess a drug that is illegal. We have not invested. We have pooh-poohed medical cannabis in this country. The medical profession largely has discarded it. Therefore, one would think that because the medical profession is calling for a greater evidence base, that we would support the research around that. However, we are not doing that.

My view on medical cannabis is very straightforward. I refer to the people I have dealt with, met and the stories I have heard in relation to medical cannabis. We need to understand the conventional medical treatments have not worked for those people. The very treatments that have the strong evidence base, generally speaking, and are well researched, have not worked. We have a situation, which I believe is inhumane, where people are forced to either break the law or leave this country to try something to see whether it works for their symptoms. They are criminalised and have to leave the country. My view on medical cannabis is very straightforward.

We talk about its effectiveness, but what about its safety? It seems to be fairly safe in countries that have medical cannabis. I would accept Professor Smyth’s comments about the evidence base in relation to medical cannabis. It needs to be stronger. However, that does not mean we do not use it. There are many examples in the history of medicines when we did not wait for the wonderful evidence base to arrive. Penicillin is probably one example. However, also in the area that I work in, there is methadone maintenance treatment. The evidence base was informed by practice and having to deal with an epidemic. We could not wait around for the absolutely perfect evidence base. I do not think medical cannabis is unsafe and I do not see any evidence that it is unsafe. The people who are trying it have tried every other conventional medicine. I just think in this country we need to show a bit of humanity towards those people. It is not right for people and families to have to leave this country at great expense and face hardship to go to another country to access a treatment they cannot access here.