Media Release MCUA of Australia Inc 1/2/21
Legalise Cannabis WA Party registers in record time
Cannabis users around the country cheer as the second branch of the Legalise Cannabis state Parties gains registration in Western Australia.
The newly registered LCWA Party will be fielding candidates in the WA March election giving users a voice from the privacy of the ballot box.
NSW and Victoria branches are under construction and Tasmania is in its early stages of formation as is South Australia.
The Medical Cannabis Users Assoc of Australia Inc (MCUA) has been instrumental in helping to make this happen since being involved with the formation of the Qld branch – from inception thru to running candidates in just over 6 months – last year.
Legalise Cannabis Qld Party averaged 4% in over a third of the 23 seats they contested, and reached 5.5% in one regional seat. The LCWA Party will be contesting Upper house seats in all the regions and have their eye on marginal seats in the lower house so they can bring Cannabis issues to the table.
“Patients around the country have been complaining to govt and opposition MPs in every state and federally about the cost of access and products; short use by dates and the constant interruption to supply. These issues that have plagued the broken cannabis delivery system since its inception,” said Deb Lynch, President of the MCUA.
Ms Lynch who ran as a candidate in the 2020 QLD state election for the Legalie Cannabis Qld Party, faced court herself late last year on cannabis production and possession charges for making her own medicine. The resultant fine of $1000, was half the expected cost of the legally prescribed products she would need – quoted at $1920 per month .
“Patients on low incomes are being denied the benefits of a safe and effective alternative to big pharma medicine. The system discriminates against vulnerable and disabled people,” she said.
With over 85,000 approvals, patients are still paying too much for costly imported products while freshly grown Aussie products are being exported to the European market.
“We were assured back in 2018 by the Health Minister, Mr Hunt when he opened the door to the export market, that Australian patients would come first. Four years ago we were told as patient numbers grew the price would come down. This has not happened.
Our pleas for cheaper products have been ignored as have the recommendations from the 2020 Inquiry into the Barriers to Medical Cannabis and patients continue to suffer cost and supply issues,” Ms Lynch continued.
The growing acceptance of Cannabis, became clear in the 2019 Australian National Drug Household survey which reported that for the first time in it’s history, more Australians supported legalising cannabis than keeping it under prohibition.
We have seen this week in the news that the effects of legalising cannabis in the ACT have been less than anticipated by the naysayers. Dire warnings of a mental health crisis and drug driving fears have been unfounded.
“Overall, we found cannabis use hasn’t changed and, in some ways, that’s the big story, because there were really dire predictions at the outset,” Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Association ACT chief executive Devin Bowles said.
On top of that, Australia’s illegal and legal cannabis market is estimated to be worth $14.8 billion based on figures released by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) in their National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program.
With this much cannabis already in the public domain, with comparatively little social damage, these figures reveal just how much the economy is missing out on. GST collected from recreational sales and a thriving Hemp industry creating manufacturing jobs in textile and building material alone, could offer a pathway to covid recovery.
Legalising Cannabis is not just about smoking weed. Its about planting seeds for our future. This is the clear message the LCWA Party intends to take to the Parliament on behalf of the people.
For more information
Contact Deb Lynch
President MCUA of Australia Inc
PHONE: 0422290212
4th January 2018 = 3 yrs ago
It is also a shrewd business move, with ambitions for Australia to become the biggest producer of medicinal cannabis products in the world.
We would like to be, potentially, the world’s number one medicinal cannabis supplier,” Mr Hunt said.
“One of the conditions of any licence for export is that medicinal cannabis be made available to Australian patients first,” Mr Hunt said. “The sector is fully supportive of that. Australian patients come first.”