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There has been a strong reaction to the New Zealand Medical Association U-turn on the cannabis referendum, with one doctor saying he will resign after 40 years of membership.
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The group now says it has no position on the proposed legalization, after previously opposing it. Source: 1 NEWS
Last year, the NZMA, the body representing some 5,000 physicians, came out strongly against the cannabis law reform, saying that “cannabis is a harmful drug that causes a variety of health and social harm to individual and community level “.
“NZMA does not condone the use of cannabis for recreational purposes and is opposed to legalization,” he said at the time.
Doctors say they were never consulted on that position.
At the end of last week, in a letter to members, the association backed down.
The letter from NZMA President Dr. Kate Baddock said she had been drawing on her position statement on cannabis that was created in 2012.
“Each member, however, has the absolute right to vote in the cannabis legalization and control referendum. The NZMA will have no position on the referendum itself,” he wrote.
“We are very sorry if anyone feels that the NZMA has not given them the opportunity to speak their minds.”
But that came too late for some.
Auckland general practitioner Dr Graham Gulbransen, who specializes in treating medical marijuana, says he will resign from the association.
“I joined 40 years ago, and I am increasingly disappointed, and I will resign from the NZMA,” he told 1 NEWS.
“I think they have given us misinformation as members and the public.
“I would say that scientists and specialists in this area have not been consulted when it comes to making evidence-based policy.”
Former Prime Minister Helen Clark backs cannabis law reform. She says NZMA’s handling of the issue is “outrageous” and may have misled voters.
“They’ve been giving the impression for months and months and months that they were totally opposed to an affirmative vote, and then all of a sudden, after a large number of New Zealanders voted, they said, ‘Oh, we didn’t want that,'” she says.
“Really, the NZMA should be running full-page ads saying, ‘We are not defending one way or not in the referendum,’ because they have done harm by advocating for a negative vote.”
Baddock was not available for an interview today, but in a statement, the NZMA said his position has not changed.
“This letter was written for NZMA members and is now in the public domain; it was primarily intended to clarify matters for members after concerns were raised about consultation with our members,” he said.
“Our position has not changed in the sense that we remain concerned about the harms of cannabis use, but we are not telling people how to vote.”
In last week’s letter to members, Baddock also took aim at the media, saying that the association’s position statement, which covered the harms of cannabis and favored decriminalization, had not been adequately covered.
“He recognized that issues related to cannabis use should be decriminalized, diverted from the courts, and treated as health issues,” Baddock said.
“Once again, the media chose not to report that even though I repeated my point of view.”
Baddock appeared on TVNZ’s Q + A show last month as part of a half-hour debate on the cannabis referendum.
At the time, he said: “Legalizing a drug that causes harm is not going to help.
“For those who have a problem with being dependent on cannabis or suffering harm related to cannabis use, bring them into the healthcare system, let them get the treatment and management they need, and keep them out of jail,” Baddock said.
“You don’t have to legalize recreational cannabis to do that.”
Gulbransen says the NZMA is putting too much emphasis on recreational cannabis and that many people who currently smoke cannabis do so for medical reasons.
“The NZMA keeps saying that this referendum is about ‘Do you support recreational cannabis or not?’ This is a referendum asking: ‘Do you support the legalization and control of cannabis?’ “, He says.
“In reality, half of cannabis users use it medicinally for chronic pain and other symptoms that do not respond to standard medical treatment. Only half are recreational users.”
He says that most people cannot afford cannabis prescribed by doctors.
“It would be safer for them to buy their medical cannabis in stores where it has been standardized and labeled so that people know what their herbal medicine contains and do not risk arrest.”
