Willis NicolaNICOLA WILLIS (National): Madam Chair thank you for the opportunity to take this my first call on the Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Bill here in this committee stage. Of course right now we are debating clause 3 which relates to the principal Act and it is significant that we in Parliament tonight are working on legislation that would amend the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975. That is a piece of legislation that has significant ramifications for New Zealanders in terms of what is and isn't classed as illegal activity with regard to the choices they make about using drugs.Now the fact that we are amending that principal Act and that we are taking this significant step also highlights the opportunity that's lost because in taking this significant step in amending the Misuse of Drugs Act we have an opportunity before us. The opportunity is to introduce a real medicinal cannabis regime. I support the introduction of a genuine medicinal cannabis regime in New Zealand but of course in amending the Act tonight that's not what we're going to get. We are going to get of course some of the way there in introducing an exception and a statutory defence for terminally ill people but what we are not going to get is a detailed regime that would allow a setting of standards for products manufactured imported and supplied—to have a genuine medicinal cannabis regime.Of course the opportunity lost here is that we're all here to amend the Misuse of Drugs Act. In fact on both sides of the Chamber tonight we have agreement that that Act should be amended and that actually things have moved along. Our understanding of the science and our understanding of the impact that medicines and drugs can have on people who are suffering from illnesses have moved along. Our community is asking many of us to take steps when it comes to the Misuse of Drugs Act and so it's unfortunate that the extensive work that has been done by Dr Shane Reti to develop a genuine regime for the introduction of medicinal cannabis has been ignored by the Minister of Health in particular and by his colleagues opposite. Instead we've had the argument that in amending this Act we should leave open broad sweeping powers for a Minister at a later date to introduce a regulatory regime.We had the Minister earlier say that this was appropriate as it would allow for experts to have their say on those regulations. I put it to you that in amending the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 we have to be aware that this is the work of Parliament and that Parliament is the proper entity to be setting those rules. I would argue that this is not an area that it's appropriate simply for regulations to be at play but that Parliament itself—the democratically elected representatives of this House—should be giving clear guidance on what our community and what our society thinks the framework for a medicinal cannabis regime should be. I think we are all derelict in our duty if we stand here tonight and say Yes we're prepared to take the significant step of amending the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 but we won't convey to the New Zealand public what the detail of a medicinal cannabis regime would be in the future."I'd put it to you that in fact it is quite possible to reflect expert opinion. It is quite possible to think about what that licensing regime would look like. It is quite possible to determine the rules around where manufacturing could take place under what circumstances and for whom and that is proven by the fact that Dr Shane Reti has done it. He has worked alongside experts. He has travelled overseas. He has studied other jurisdictions where there are effective medicinal cannabis regimes. He has put that work together into a substantive proposal and the Minister who's smiling at me now knows that the truth is he's rejected that work. He's rejected that work and that is a missed opportunity because here we are: we are in agreement—Labour National the Greens—that we should amend the Misuse of Drugs Act.This is a significant moment in our Parliament. You had the opportunity to be a statesman Minister—sorry not you. The Minister had the opportunity to be a true statesman and say "This isn't actually about political point-scoring; this is about getting an enduring framework for medicinal cannabis in this country—something that New Zealanders have asked for something that many members across the House have worked on something that experts all over New Zealand have contributed thinking on and something that is quite within the power of Parliament to put forward. Instead he said "No no. We'll put that on the never-never. We'll put that on the 'We'll develop it later.' " Another working group another "Leave it to someone else to develop the regulations." and I think that's a shame. I think that that belittles the Parliament because we could do this within this bill and yet that is left wanting. I'm disappointed."