Singh’s success in push for medical cannabis use

Following a two year process of deliberations, investigation and research, an announcement was made on Wednesday, 23 November in Parliament that the department of health will soon regulate access to medicinal cannabis for prescribed health conditions.

IFP Chief Whip in Parliament, Narend Singh MP, who is also chairman of Khanya Hospice and an Umkomaas buisnessman, lauded this announcement as a victory for his late colleague, Dr Mario Oriani-Ambrosini MP, who introduced the Medical Innovation Bill (MIB) in the midst of his own fight with terminal cancer.

Singh believes this is a victory for every South African unnecessarily suffering because of HIV/AIDS, severe chronic pain, severe muscle spasms, vomiting or wasting arising from cancer, or severe seizures resulting from epileptic conditions where other treatment options have failed or have intolerable side effects.

“Dr Ambrosini, who had been advised by his medical team that Western medicine could do no more for him, started seeking alternatives that might offer him a cure,” said Singh.

“These innovative and alternative medicines were not readily available at the time through prescribed medical channels and there had also been little government-sanctioned research into their efficacy as palliative and treatment protocols.”

After looking abroad and consulting widely, Dr Ambrosini came across the Saatchi Bill in the United Kingdom, which was introduced by Lord Saatchi, calling for medical innovation through the legalisation of medicinal cannabis in the UK.

Lord Saatchi, who had lost his wife to cancer, had also seen the value and need for greater medical innovation into alternative treatment protocols and hence introduced his Bill, which is still before parliament in the United Kingdom.

South Africa’s Medical Innovation Bill was inspired in part by this Bill.

“Dr Ambrosini sadly died in August 2014 and the Bill then lapsed in terms of parliamentary procedure (lapsing upon the death of the member introducing the Bill), until I re-introduced the Bill in late 2014,” said Singh.

“I did this not only as a gesture of goodwill towards my late colleague, but principally because I strongly believe in the objects and purport of the Bill.”

Asked if he had come across any opposition to the idea, Singh said most progressive ideas encounter opposition initially.

“There has been some opposition, but mostly through people who have insufficient information. There seems to be a great deal of confusion about what the Bill seeks to do.

The Bill does not seek a full decriminalisation of cannabis – it is for medicinal cannabis only, not recreational use.

Cannabis will not be freely available, it will be prescribed by your doctor, and then after substantive application, authorised by the director-general (DG) of health. It can only be grown and cultivated by licenced growers and licences will be issued after application to the DG of health.

In respect of current use of medicinal cannabis, it must also be remembered that there is an entire underground market currently in existence in South Africa. Regulated access will not only see prices drop, but will also guarantee quality and applicability of a particular cannabis strain for treatment of a particular medical condition.”

The objectives of the Bill in its current form are to establish one or more research hospitals where medical innovation can take place, especially with regard to the treatment and cure of cancer, and to legalise the medical use of cannabis in accordance with emerging world standards.

The Bill creates a special legal dispensation, which applies only in research pilot hospitals authorised by the minister of health where medical practitioners are granted greater professional discretion to administer innovative and alternative medical treatments on the basis of the patients’ informed consent.

The department has indicated that the new regulatory framework could be available as early as the end of January for stakeholder comment, and could be implemented as soon as April.

“The introduction of Dr Oriani-Ambrosini’s Bill in 2014 galvanised a concerted effort by all stakeholders, the result being that we will shortly have a working blueprint and regulatory framework for access to medicinal cannabis in South Africa,” said Singh.

“The objects of the Bill encapsulate a mindset of medical innovation within the parameters of a ‘safety first’ paradigm.

If the objects of the Bill are implemented, it will indeed be a giant step forward for medicine and medical care in South Africa. Not only will patients have access to innovative products, but the cost of medicine will also become more affordable.

We look forward to seeing that happen as soon as possible. South Africans deserve nothing less.”