Question Without Notice No. 955 asked in the Legislative Council on 6 December 2017 by Hon Colin Tincknell
Parliament: 40 Session: 1
MEDICAL CANNABIS — ACCESS
955. Hon COLIN TINCKNELL to the parliamentary secretary representing the Minister for Health:
I recently asked questions during the budget estimates committee about the operational cost of the medicinal cannabis advisory committee and the members on the committee. I received the answer that 13 people are on the committee and that it meets once a month.
(1) Does this mean that any member of the public in urgent need of access to medicinal cannabis has to wait a month to have any chance of gaining that approval?
(2) If so, does the government feel that it is fair and appropriate to make the public of Western Australia wait a month for approval, especially after having had to wait so long to reach the committee in the first place?
Hon SAMANTHA ROWE replied:
I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question and answer on behalf of the parliamentary secretary.
(1) No. Urgent cases are handled out of session by the Cannabis-Based Products Assessment Panel and decisions can be made within a week.
(2) Not applicable.