Dear Minister Cook,

Thank you for recently endorsing the access to WA patients for medical cannabis which I fully support for my patients. There is a large amount of political and public support for this matter.

As per your press release, I query the necessity of a WA based expert advisory committee to oversee this. Being a schedule 8 medication it is already subject to oversight. Further the committee would be an expensive duplication of federal approvals for medical cannabis already being overseen by the TGA in the Special Access scheme which requires a large amount of paperwork as well as ethics approval to be submitted before a prescription can be written.

 Evidence shows that cannabis is lower than caffeine on the addiction scale and almost impossible to overdose on. Being available in pharmacies via prescription in capsules/liquids will greatly prevent diversion. There are a number of conditions such as epilepsy, chronic pain, cancer pain and nausea, multiple sclerosis, PTSD and Parkinsons Disease that are being investigated for efficacy.

I ask you to consider dropping the expert medical advisory committee as it is not in the public interest and an unnecessary hurdle for vulnerable patients.

Yours sincerely