A BALLARAT doctor has stressed medicinal marijuana must be used for the “most serious” illnesses, suggesting the drug was linked to mental disorders.
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Medicaid Ballarat and Geelong owner Dr Carl Grace said cannabis might improve patients’ quality of life as they were “going through their final demise”.
His comments follow proposed law changes by the Victorian government to make clinical marijuana trials easier.
However, Dr Grace, a general practitioner for 35 years, warned cannabis use led to depression and an increased likelihood of psychological conditions.
Ballarat mother Belinda Scott, who was diagnosed with stage four bowel and liver cancer in May, said she would “have a go” at a trial, if her chemotherapy remained unsuccessful.
Ms Scott said her first four rounds of chemotherapy hadn’t worked and she was almost certain to start an experimental trial soon at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
The side-effects linked to cancer medication prompted Ms Scott to back a statewide push for marijuana trials in May.
“It’s pretty much trial and error to find out what works,” she said.
Australian Medical Association Victoria president Dr Tony Bartone said international studies proved marijuana had a role to play with symptom relief for a variety of illnesses.
And while he said marijuana was “not a cure”, it could help people with fixed-muscle spasticity conditions, like multiple sclerosis.
“You hear all the time in the media that it helps with epilepsy, but that’s where we are seeing the weakest evidence at the moment,” he said.
Mr Bartone stressed it wasn’t marijuana in its crudest form that would be used in the trial.
Learning how to best extract the cannabinoids in marijuana for maximum effect would form a crucial part of the trials, he said.
As part of the legislation, the state government created an advisory committee of clinical experts, who will work through clinical and ethical issues arising from potential trials.
william.vallely@fairfaxmedia.com.au