WA patients could take part in medical marijuana clinical trials amid growing momentum for its legalisation in Australia.
Health Minister Kim Hames wants officials to examine options for WA to link in with trials that will soon begin in the Eastern States.
Although clinical trials can legally be established in WA, one option may be to transport medicinal cannabis to the State to supply a limited number of patients with the drug as partof east coast trials.
NSW has taken the lead and will conduct three clinical trials next year, with Victoria and Queensland also taking part.
The trials will examine the effectiveness of cannabis-based products to treat children with severe epilepsy, relieve pain for adults with a terminal illness and reduce nausea for adults having chemotherapy.
The Victorian Government announced last week it would legalise medicinal cannabis from 2017, while a cross-party group of Federal MPs declared on Monday they wanted a vote next month to establish a national regulator so that products could be available on prescription.
State legislation already allows for research into cannabis preparations in WA, but Premier Colin Barnett and Dr Hames have said that though they support the NSW trials, the Government will not take part in them.
Dr Hames toldThe West Australian though there was evidence supporting the benefits of cannabis extracts to treat a range of conditions, it still needed to be of sufficient scientific quality for definitive answers on safety and effectiveness.
He said the research needed to be done collaboratively and on a national scale, instead of having the States do the same sorts of trials at once, and was keen to broaden WA’s involvement.
“WA is waiting on the results of the NSW trials as agreed by all the State health ministers last year, but I’m investigating opportunities for WA to link in to the national trials, and issues around access to the clinical product,” Dr Hames said.
“Clinical trials could be legally conducted in WA under the right conditions but they need to be run safely and ethically under medical supervision, and with an ultimate goal that sees national regulation so we don’t have a piecemeal solution.”
“There are already pharmaceutical versions of cannabis extracts of this type available overseas but we need Therapeutic Goods Administration approval to know they comply with Australian standards and will do the job they say they’ll do.”
Dr Hames stressed any decision on legalising medicinal cannabis, who had access to it and how it would be administered “will not diminish the WA Government’s strong stance against the use of cannabis as a recreational drug”.
Opposition Leader Mark McGowan has promised to legalise marijuana for chronically or terminally ill patients if Labor wins the next State election.