National has announced a medicinal cannabis bill of its own, which would see the drug treated like other medicines and available from the chemist.The National bill goes further than Labour’s in allowing doctors to prescribe medicinal cannabis - potentially including those with chronic pain or epilepsy, for example, whom Labour’s bill excludes. It also focuses more on a regulatory regime for supplying the goods - but rules out products that would be edible or smokeable. Instead, the products would be available in pill or liquid form.According to Stuff, National’s bill will allow fast-tracking of MedSafe consents for new cannabis products and domestic production, in an attempt to offset the current high costs of products.It would make medicinal cannabis products a pharmacist-only medicine for which doctors could authorise a photo ID medicinal cannabis card. Politics writer Henry Cooke notes that it's unclear whether National's bill will only apply to those with a terminal prognosis or would also cover people with other serious illnesses.Labour’s bill, on the other hand, provides a legal defence for terminal patients growing or consuming their own supply. The bill was criticised for excluding non-terminal patients and left the regulatory framework for producing or distributing the drug largely to Ministry of Health officials.Labour’s bill has just come back from a health committee made up of both Labour and National MPs who heard submissions from the public. The health committee’s response, which you can read in full here, concludes “We have been unable to reach an agreement and therefore cannot recommend that the bill proceed.” That recommendation isn't binding, and doesn't mean the bill won't proceed through its next vote.National leader Simon Bridges says that Labour’s bill was “totally silent on how a medicinal cannabis regime would operate in practice”.“The Government has said it will increase access now and leave it to officials to think through the controls and the consequences later. That’s typical of this Government but it’s not acceptable. So we’re putting forward a comprehensive alternative,” Bridges said.National’s release notes that under their bill, “cultivators and manufacturers must be licenced for commercial production. Licence holders and staff will be vetted to ensure they are fit and proper persons.” The statement hints at the possibility that under National’s proposed regime, those with criminal records might be excluded from the legal industry. Earlier this month, VICE wrote about whether those who have been disproportionately targeted by drug law enforcement - particularly Māori - would have opportunity to benefit financially from a legal industry. A ban on those with records could be a major obstacle for companies seeking to use the medicinal cannabis industry as a legal pathway out of criminal offending for disenfranchised groups.The Greens, meanwhile, called for cross-party collaboration and condemned “cynical politics” on the issue.“We’re happy to see the National Party respond, finally, to the need for a new common-sense medicinal cannabis framework, involving the prescription from and support of medical health professionals, but it’s disappointing that they voted down exactly this scope in my Member’s Bill earlier this year, wasting time and public funds as patients suffered,” said Green Party Drug Law Reform spokesperson Chlöe Swarbrick.To pass into law, National's Bill would have to be drawn from the ballot, and then find support with one or both of the Greens and New Zealand First.
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