Mike Baird urges governments to move quickly to make medical cannabis accessible to terminally ill

MIKE BAIRD is urging governments to “move quickly” to make medical cannabis accessible to terminally ill patients. The former NSW premier has signed on become an official patron of United in Compassion.

MIKE Baird is lending his name to a medical cannabis charity with the former premier saying he wants governments to “move quickly” to ensure terminally ill patients can access the drug.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal that while Mr Baird has been trying to keep a low-profile since quitting state parliament in January, he has signed on to become an official patron of United in Compassion.

The charity was started by retired nurse Lucy Haslam, whose son Dan was forced to buy cannabis on the black market when he was undergoing chemotherapy for terminal bowel cancer.

Mike Baird when he was premier with Lucy Haslam at the opening of the Hemp Symposium at Rosehill Gardens.

Dan, who passed away in 2015, helped convince Mr Baird to run clinical trials for the drug and introduce official guidelines for police not to charge terminally ill adults if they are caught using cannabis for pain relief.

Mr Baird said before meeting Dan and Lucy he would “never in a million years” imagine himself becoming an official patron for a medical cannabis charity.

“Having met Dan, heard the story and the impact, I became a big believer,” he said.

“The thing that gets me the most is that for those who are terminally ill, there is undoubted evidence that medical cannabis in some form can have an impact taking away pain when any other form of medication doesn’t work and restore hunger when again any other medication doesn’t work.”

“There is evidence that medical cannabis is working, it’s providing relief when other forms of drugs aren’t.” - Mike Baird

He said there was a need to ensure patients were not facing ridiculous wait times to access the drug.

“We need to understand that this is a complex area, there is evidence that medical cannabis is working, it’s providing relief when other forms of drugs aren’t and in that context the more we can do and the quicker we can do it, the better,” he said.

“We do need to understand the push for urgency by families who are in desperate situations. governments don’t move quickly, but I think my encouragement is to move as quickly as we can given the difference it can make to people in the short term”

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Dan Haslam with his mum Lucy and father Lou in 2014 as he was battling terminal cancer.

Mr Baird said he thought there was an opportunity for those “across the political spectrum” to work together to help terminally ill people access medical cannabis.

“There is momentum and we need to keep it going, ultimately it’s driven by trying to make a difference to those in desperate situations.”

Ms Haslam said there were ongoing issues that meant terminally ill patients were being forced to wait months to access medical cannabis.

“There is a problem where it has become a political football ... There are still those who hang onto to the old stigma’s around cannabis,” she said.

She said she hoped Mr Baird would be a “voice of reason” to medical cannabis opponents.

His role will be officially announced at a ball the charity is throwing in Tamworth this Saturday.

https://www.unitedincompassion.com.au/

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