Major drawback to taking medicinal cannabis

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Every year hundreds of thousands of Australians take medicinal cannabis to treat chronic pain and other conditions, but with the benefits there's a major drawback.

Transcript

00:00 Every day, West Australian man John, who can't reveal his real name, takes cannabis.

00:08 It relieves his fibromyalgia, a condition which causes chronic fatigue and pain.

00:13 It's just been revolutionary.

00:15 My main problem has been fatigue and just the inability to get moving, and it helps

00:21 with that.

00:22 So it's just wonderful.

00:23 Medicinal cannabis has been legal since 2016.

00:26 But under WA law, you cannot drive with the intoxicating element of cannabis, THC, in

00:32 your system.

00:33 It's a law John chooses to ignore.

00:37 He believes he isn't putting anyone at risk.

00:39 He says he doesn't feel impaired when driving.

00:42 I'm an experienced driver.

00:44 You know, I'm also experienced with cannabis.

00:47 When you have a tolerance like I do, it's not as strong.

00:51 A new Swinburne University study appears to support his claim.

00:56 Researchers used a car simulator to test the driving ability of 40 patients who took a

01:00 dose.

01:01 Our main finding was remarkably little change in driving performance before and after people

01:08 had taken their medical cannabis.

01:10 Dr. Arkell says cannabis should be treated like other medications.

01:15 We don't treat any other prescription medication in the same way, where you can be pulled over

01:20 and it can be an offence to simply have that drug in your system.

01:24 The legalised cannabis party says patients should be allowed to drive.

01:28 We've enshrined in law a lie, a lie which states that any presence of detectable THC

01:34 is equivalent to impairment.

01:35 I wish you'd be able to drive without fear of being prosecuted for it, just because I'm

01:40 on medicine that I need is really good for my wellbeing, my functioning.

01:45 The health department says the research needs to be carefully assessed, but patients should

01:49 not drive while on cannabis.

01:51 Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the state government says the health minister is consulting with

01:56 experts on whether the law should be changed.

01:59 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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