Dear supporters, We need you to email Bill Shorten, Catherine King and all Labor Senators TODAY. We have all of their email addresses below to make it easy to reach all of them in the one email. In less than 2 weeks Senator Di Natale's motion to disallow that will block the Government's scrapping of Category A access will go to a vote on 23 March 2017 in the Australian Senate. LABOR have advised us that all of Labor Senators are NOT voting in support of the Greeen's motion. Australian Labor have said they are siding with the Government and will vote to support the Government's changes that propose to DENY patients with life threatening and terminal conditions to Cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinols (THC), nabiximols and Cannabidiol (CBD) medicines under Category A. LETTER FROM LABOR HEALTH SPOKEPERSON CATHERINE KING MP Labor has obtained the following commitments from the Government: • The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) will process applications to access medicinal cannabis under Category B of the SAS in six days on average; • The TGA will provide better information and assistance to medical providers on Category B of the SAS to avoid unnecessary delays; • The TGA will work with state governments to streamline their processes and avoid unnecessary duplication; and • The Authorised Prescriber pathway will continue to give patients access to medicinal cannabis without pre-approval from the TGA. On the basis of these assurances, and given that disallowing this regulation could further delay the national scheme, Labor will not move or vote to disallow the Government’s regulation. However, we agree that much more needs to be done to ensure safe and timely access to medicinal cannabis across Australia, and will be working with patients to make this a reality. THIS IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH FROM LABOR Without the support of all of the Labor Senators on 23 March 2017 the Green's motion will fail. Category A access will be DENIED. It's unbelievable that Labor or any other Senator for that matter could even think it's ok to deny patients with a terminal or life threatening condition immediate access under Category A. If Labor don't support the Greens motion it will put an end to any chance for patients to obtain immediate access. Instead they will need to wait months on end for their doctor to get TGA and state approval under Category B or try to find a specialist who is an AP which will be very difficult as there are only 23 in Australia and there is no public list of AP available. PLEASE CONTACT ALL THE LABOR SENATORS TODAY ASK THEM TO VOTE YES FOR CATEGORY A Ask Labor to support the Green's Category A motion on 23 March 2017. 1. Email Labor leader Bill Shorten - Bill.Shorten.MP@aph.gov.au or telephone Bill on (02) 6277 4022 and 2. Email Labor spokesperson for health Catherine King MP - Catherine.King.MP@aph.gov.au. Email list of all Labor Senators can be copied and pasted into the one email if you want to reach all of the Labor Senators. senator.bilyk@aph.gov.au, senator.carol.brown@aph.gov.au, senator.cameron@aph.gov.au, senator.carr@aph.gov.au, senator.chisholm@aph.gov.au, senator.collins@aph.gov.au, senator.dastyari@aph.gov.au, senator.dodson@aph.gov.au, senator.farrell@aph.gov.au, senator.gallacher@aph.gov.au, senator.katy.gallagher@aph.gov.au, senator.ketter@aph.gov.au, senator.kitching@aph.gov.au, senator.lines@aph.gov.au, senator.marshall@aph.gov.au, senator.jennifer.macallister@aph.gov.au, senator.mccarthy@aph.gov.au, senator.moore@aph.gov.au, senator.oneill@aph.gov.au, senator.polley@aph.gov.au, senator.pratt@aph.gov.au, senator.singh@aph.gov.au, senator.sterle@aph.gov.au, senator.watt@aph.gov.au, senator.wong@aph.gov.au senator.urquhart@aph.gov.au Contact List - All Australian Senators Link below is the list of all Australian Senators with their address, email and phone details. http://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Guidelines_for_Contacting_Senators_and_Members Thank you for supporting the Category A issue. There are a lot of other issues that need to be addressed. This will take time and a lot more legislative changes at a stave and Federal level but this is one injustice that everyone can get behind as it impacts on Category A patients Australia wide who need immediate access to cannabis , THC and CBD under the Federal system. Grace Sands JJJ HACK INTERVIEW WITH PATIENTS AND DOCTORS - TOO MUCH TGA AND STATE RED TAPE TO GET CATEGORY B APPROVAL Sarah McVeigh has written a great article which includes interviews with patients, a GP who has used the SAS Category B, and also a specialist from NSW who is an Authorised Prescriber for Epidiolex. http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/medical-cannabis-doctors-respond/8314222 CHANNEL 7 VIDEO: LYNDA DWYER - DENIED ACCESS Lynda Lawrie only has weeks to live and was prescribed medical cannabis through Category A by her own doctor but the TGA blocked her access, and advised the doctor he needed to apply for approval under the Category B pathway. EXTRACT FROM MCAG LETTER TO LABOR - 9 MARCH 2017 Dear Mr Shorten, Ms Catherine King and all Labor Senators, We refer to our Medical Cannabis Law Reform submission that was sent to your office on 30 January 2017. I have attached another copy of the submission for your reference and ask that you please read this and the information below and try to understand the issues that patients are facing with access to cannabis under the Federal Government's schemes which are seriously flawed and causing harm. We have also been in contact with Labor through Bill Shorten and Catherine King's offices since last November seeking support for the motion for Category A access for patients with terminal and serious life threatening conditions. We are very disappointed that Labor have advised us that Labor's Senators will no be supporting this motion and instead are supporting the Government on this issue. The Government's amendments propose to deny patients with life threatening conditions access to Schedule 8 cannabis, THC and nabiximols and Schedule 4 cannabidiol (CBD) under Category A of the Special Access Scheme (SAS). However under Category A, patients can access any other Schedule 4 and Schedule 8 unregistered or unapproved medicine including toxic and addictive drugs but not cannabis or THC. The Government's proposal is just unreasonable and outright cruel and it is just unbelievable that Labor could even contemplate giving it any support. There is no justification to support the Government's amendments. How could anyone justify denying a patient with a terminal condition or a life threatening condition such as cancer, epilepsy, MS or AIDS their right to immediate access to a medicine when other options have failed, and when they have given their full written informed consent to their doctor to use the unregistered product, and when they have accepted full liability for any adverse consequences and are paying for the treatment themselves. How can this be justified when the very same patients can access any other Schedule 4 or 8 unregistered medicine under Category A as mentioned above and even access very toxic and addictive drugs with serious side effects and that have not undergone any or very little research and can even cause death. We ask again that you take the time to read our submission if you have not read it, and the information below and take the time to look into this matter further. We ask that you please reconsider your decision and get behind the patients who need immediate access instead of listening to the Government and ignorant and discriminatory views or a CBD only agenda. Patient Access Issues You may have seen the Government's recent announcement that they will be allowing the wholesale import of bulk supplies of cannabis but only through the Authorised Prescribers Scheme (AP). Once again this has not remedied the issues with patient access and is just more political spin by the Government to make it look like something great is happening when in fact it is very misleading and has created a lot of confusion. The Government's announcement that they will allow wholesalers to import bulk supplies of cannabis products from overseas for supply through AP does nothing to resolve the issues that patients are experiencing finding an AP (only 23 in Australia), which leaves patients with Category B of the SAS which can take up to 5 months and is in fact almost impossible for most patients as TGA and state approval are needed. I have outlined the significant issues with importing and access to cannabis under the APS further below. SAS Category B Issues The Category B process is unsuitable for patients with life threatening conditions. It is very difficult, cumbersome, costly and time consuming for doctors and patients to navigate as the doctor requires TGA and state approval. Labor and other MPs have advised us that the Government have committed to ensuring that the TGA will give doctors approval within 6 days and will work with doctors through the process. However we can assure you that is not the case and we have been hearing this since October 2015 when Sussan Ley gave a commitment in the Australian Parliament to make the SAS work for patients. We have also been advised numerous times since late 2015 that the TGA and the states are working closely together to streamline access. The facts are TGA approval for Category B have always been 5 - 10 days. That time frame only relates to when the TGA decides that the doctor has provided sufficient documentation. In reality TGA approval can take months as the TGA can make unlimited requests to the doctor to provide further information. The states can also make unlimited requests to the doctor to provide further information even though the doctor has been through the TGA process. The states are also delaying access under Category B further by duplicating the TGA Category process at a state level causing delays of up to 3 months for the doctor to obtain state approval as cases are referred to a state panel and the chief executive officer can take up to 90 days to give a doctor a decision. Once a doctor obtains TGA and state approval, a pharmacist then needs to apply for state approval to dispense the cannabis which can take up to a further 90 days waiting on a decision. As there are no local supplies of cannabis for Category B, products need to be imported. Therefore the pharmacist then needs to wait on approval from the ODC for an import licence. The export process can then take another 3 months or longer waiting for the overseas supplier to obtain an export license and permit. Shipping and customs clearance also causes further delays. It is unacceptable that patients with life threatening conditions are denied immediate access to imported products under Category A and are being forced to wait months on end for Category B approval. It is also unacceptable that when local supplies are available patients will still need to go through the Category B process. Issues with the Authorised Prescriber Scheme As mentioned above the Government's announcement that they will allow wholesalers to import bulk supplies of cannabis products from overseas for supply through authorised prescribers is very misleading and in fact does nothing to resolve the issues that doctors and patients have with access once the cannabis arrives in Australia. 1. The bulk import of cannabis for supply through the APS is not anything new and in fact has already been utilised in NSW and QLD. 2. The Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 and the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations have had provisions for cannabis, cannabis resin and cannabinoids to be imported into Australia for supply through the APS and the SAS from when these schemes were first introduced into the Therapeutic Goods Act in 1989. 3. The imported Epidiolex (CBD) for example that is being used in the NSW compassionate access scheme (40 children) and the QLD compassionate access scheme (30 children) for the treatment of childhood epilepsy has been imported into Australia for supply and prescription through the APS. You may not be aware but the NSW and QLD Government had to change the TGA supply pathway for Epidiolex from research trials to supply through AP because GW Pharmaceuticals would not supply its Epidiolex to any country for research trials or any other purpose until the company had concluded it's own FDA trials in the United States. This was the cause of significant delays by up to 2 years from when the NSW and QLD Governments first announced in late 2014 and early 2015 respectively that they would be conducting research trials. 4. There are only 23 approved AP in the whole of Australia. There are 21 AP in NSW and only 2 in QLD. There are no AP in the other states or the territories. 5. We have been advised that all of the AP in NSW and QLD are involved with the research trials and the compassionate access schemes that have been funded by the NSW, QLD and VIC governments. 5. To become an AP a doctor needs TGA, research ethics committee and state approval. Although the TGA does not restrict APs to specialists and permits GPs to become AP, the states have introduced legislation that restricts AP to specialists only. The states have also put further restrictions in place as approvals are restricted to certain specialists only. For example in QLD the only specialists that can obtain state approval to become a TGA AP are those in oncology, palliative care and childhood neurology. 6. A doctor applying to become an AP must specify in their application the class of patient and the medical condition that they intend to treat; and the form of cannabis that they intend to use i.e. CBD, THC or dried cannabis bud; and the ratio of active and inactive compounds; and the supplier and trade name of the product for which they are seeking approval. Therefore all of these approved AP are already restricted and approved to use a specified product supplied from a specified company to treat a specified medical condition and would need to seek approval from the TGA, their research ethics committee and the state to vary their AP authorisation. 7. Imported cannabis through AP will not be affordable for most patients. In addition patients can wait months for an appointment with a specialist in the public health system. The costs to see a private specialist are prohibitive for most patients. 8. We are also concerned that patients will only end up with access to CBD products imported from overseas countries such as the Netherlands, United States and Canada where CBD is sold over the counter as a food supplement or upon a doctors recommendation but here in Australia the TGA have CBD listed as a Schedule 4 prescription medicine and restricted to supply to certain specialists who need approval from 2 Government agencies, the TGA and a state health department, as well as research ethics committee approval. 9. The TGA and state health departments do not allow a public listing of approved authorised prescribers making it very difficult for patients to find a AP. Exporting Issues Canada and the Netherlands already have restrictions on the products and amounts that can be exported. In addition the export licence process can take months. Local Industry Although our main priorty and focus is on patients rights, I will also be sending some information in a separate email on the adverse impact for local industry if Category A is not supported. Patients with life threatening conditions should have the right to have immediate and fast tracked access to cannabis and THC under the SAS Category A and under their own GP, or specialist. There should be equality before the law - in the interim the Government should allow access to imported bulk supplies of cannabis and THC for patients using both pathways under the SAS - Category A and B, and not just restrict supply through authorised prescribers. The TGA and the states also need to stop duplicating the Category B process delaying access under that pathway. The authorised prescribers pathway may be a more efficient pathway to prescribe cannabis in the long term but it will take years before there are adequate numbers of doctors approved to meet the needs of all patients in Australia. It is vital that Labor gives support to the Greens Category A motion. Category A patients need immediate access under the Category A pathway and do not have the luxury of time on their side to wait for their doctor to obtain TGA and state approval under the Category B pathway. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THIS HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN