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Reform of the medical cannabis law will soon be underway, with a Cabinet document to be presented.
In an interview with Radio New Zealand, Cook Islands Health Secretary Bob Williams said a cabinet paper would be presented to the prime minister.
It comes after the overwhelmingly positive response to the referendum question during the 2022 general election, with 62% of respondents voting ‘yes’. The referendum asked: “Should we revise our cannabis laws to allow research and medicinal use?”
“I assume the policy will look at the approval process by health professionals and identify how many people across the country require this form of medicine,” Williams told RNZ.
“For me, as the health secretary, it’s only going to be medicinal use, not recreational use and that’s going to be for residents only. I’m not sure we’re going to extend that to anyone outside of the Cook Islands.”
When Cook Islands News approached Williams for further comment, he said: “I’m not going to anticipate what’s going to cabinet and I’m not going to comment until then. That paper will wait until the new cabinet is formed.”
Earlier this month, newly re-elected Prime Minister Mark Brown told Cook Islands News that the government would very quickly look to establish a regime that would allow doctors to prescribe medical cannabis to their patients.
“We hope to get this up and running as soon as possible. In addition, we will look at the possibility of further diversifying the economy in terms of production,” said Prime Minister Brown.
Under current law in the Cook Islands, in particular sections 6 and 7 of the Narcotic Drugs and Misuse of Drugs Act 2004, trafficking in controlled drugs is an offence. Cannabis is classified as a controlled drug.
Drug Foundation New Zealand director Sarah Helm said it was great news to see the Cook Islands considering the best steps to make cannabis more available for medicinal purposes.
“We’ve learned a lot about this here in New Zealand and a medical cannabis scheme was launched in 2020,” Helm said.
“However, I would caution against a replication of the New Zealand scheme, which has been widely seen as a failure for both our local medical cannabis industry and patients.”
Helm said the New Zealand scheme has set the standard for products so high that it is almost impossible to get approved.
“Therefore, the products are expensive and not subsidized. This has resulted in a CBD oil product, with no psychoactive properties, in excess of NZ$330 per month,” he said.
“In New Zealand, we estimate that 94% of people who use cannabis for some form of therapeutic benefit or pain relief are still accessing it on the black market.
“People with disabilities are more likely to use cannabis, for example. Although the science is still catching up, there is emerging evidence of its benefits that appears regularly. For example, it can have beneficial impacts on such diverse diseases such as: epilepsy, arthritis, chronic pain, autoimmune diseases, depression and sleep problems.”
Williams said the chief pharmacist has been tasked with studying medicinal cannabis pharmaceuticals used in New Zealand and Australia.
“We’re also looking at what’s available in New Zealand or Australia, what’s been approved for medical use and whether we can get access to those drugs in New Zealand or Australia.”
Helm said local research on how many people use it to relieve pain, inflammation or other ailments can be a useful start before creating any policy or legal regime.
“There will always be a group of patients who don’t have easy access to health care services like doctors,” Helm said.
“Therefore, it would be wise to consider removing criminal penalties for cannabis, especially since we also know that they generally do not deter cannabis use in any case.”
