The Leaf March - April 2017 | Page 14

Deregistered and Defiant – All in The Public Interest
In 2003 the New South Wales ( NSW ) Government was going to introduce legislation to allow a trial of medicinal cannabis . Australian researchers had been lobbying the government for two very different schemes . Most favoured transforming cannabis into a pharmaceutical , but one doctor was determined to treat cannabis as a medicinal herb and threatened that if the government locked in a trial with a big pharmaceutical company , he would run his own illegal trial . He was already developing high potency strains of cannabis that could have been tested on the thousands of medicinal cannabis users .
Nearly a decade-and-a-half later , in 2017 , and that very same doctor “… is permanently prohibited from supplying or administering cannabis or any of its derivatives to any person for the treatment , or purported treatment , of cancer ”. So , what happened ?
Dr Andrew Katelaris was a resident medical officer at North Shore Private Hospital in Sydney , Australia in 2003 . A fervent campaigner who wanted cannabis to become a low-cost , herbal medicine . He envisaged patients growing their own , but his main goal was to become a licensed cannabis supplier , developing potent strains of plants . In 2002 he convinced the NSW government to grant him the first licence to grow and test cannabis for differences in ‘ drug ’ content with cooperation of Southern Cross University ( Lismore ) under an exemption from the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act .
The research revealed some startling results , with pesticide and herbicide contamination and enormous variation in strength . In 1995 Dr Katelaris had begun growing one of the nation ’ s first hemp research crops at Quirindi in northern NSW . At that time , he had been investigating the plant ’ s fibre for use in the fabrics and construction industries .
Dr Katelaris never had permission to test ‘ street ’ cannabis and in 2003 his growing licence was revoked after police declared his property a security risk ( a large shed was not padlocked ), a decision that wasn ’ t revoked despite many letters of support from European textiles companies impressed with the potential for the Australian-grown crop . Dr Katelaris was astounded , his was meant to be a first licence , a photo-chemical survey into the variability of what was available and he had wanted to rapidly follow up with producing quality cannabis and setting up trials , so desperately required . Katelaris was on the phone to the government thereafter , trying to re-establish the cannabis trial , but he was now regarded as a maverick in the science community . In October 2003 , the United States government took out patent # 6,630,507 on cannabinoid compounds in cannabis due to their antioxidant and neuro-protective properties . Dr Katelaris recalled being contacted by a 78- year-old patient after he ’ d appeared on ABC TV ’ s Catalyst program , in 2003 , discussing the medical use of cannabis . “ The patient was so desperate for help that she found my name in the White Pages and rang me at home ”, he said . The woman was wheelchair bound and in chronic pain and a pain management clinic prescribed morphine , which caused severe constipation , unsteadiness and confusion . “ She had already tried cannabis in cookies , which had provided benefit but … she wasn ’ t able to smoke the herb ”, Dr Katelaris said . “ I