Andersen GinnyGINNY ANDERSEN (Labour): Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. It's a great day. It's a great day to hear the National Party members asking for more detail about cannabis. It's a great day to hear National Party members saying they want to table four further Supplementary Order Papers (SOPs) that will provide greater detail on cannabis because it reminds me and I think it reminds this House just how far we've come. It's a good thing that we are having this discussion here today and it reminds me of the journey that has taken place to get to a point where we have all parties in this House having a good reasonable discussion about how we make those in pain and those suffering have greater and better access to cannabis products in order to make their lives better. So I'm heartened. Yes there is discussion and debate around the regulations and the detail. Yes there is disagreement about how those details will work on the ground but that is good. That is good to have agreement across this House about an issue that has taken an incredibly long time to reach this point. This bill while it might not be perfect in the eyes of some goes further than any other bill has gone with respect to medicinal cannabis and I would like us to stop and think about those who are affected the most and to think about those in New Zealand who are in pain and who currently can't access legal medicinal cannabis. I would like to stop and also remember Helen Kelly and the amazing work that she did to get us to this point in time. And for the greatest gains made under the last Government I would like to acknowledge that it was Helen Kelly that drove those changes. It was Helen Kelly's continual advocacy and fighting for what she believed was a right for people that got the changes that happened under Peter Dunne in the previous Government and those changes will continue under this Government. It's important that we acknowledge that this bill is about improving access to the high quality medicinal cannabis products. It will make medicinal cannabis more readily available to those suffering terminal illnesses or being in pain. No one wants to see someone in their family suffer. No one wants to see those who are in pain and this gives a clear opportunity for effective pain relief to people when they need it. We are taking a compassionate approach to this legislation. The bill introduces an exception and statutory defence for people who are nearing the ends of their lives to possess and use illicit cannabis. We realise that the scheme proposed in this bill will take time to develop and to go on and some people can't wait that long. In the meantime there are people suffering from terminal illnesses who find pain relief by using illicit cannabis. And there are some people who are suffering who do not want to access something and break the law and therefore they aren't accessing what would make their lives better. This bill therefore would give those people a defence for using and possessing cannabis or a cannabis utensil and that means that they would not be criminalised. This is the compassionate thing to do while this scheme is being established. The Minister of Health today has already stated that he will be introducing a Supplementary Order Paper at the committee of the whole House stage that will increase the number of people who would be covered by the exception of the statutory defence provisions. This change would remove the 12-month restriction and the terminally ill provisions.The terminally ill provision is one that is not widely used. So the change in terminology which has already been discussed is that of palliation which is a more accurate and more appropriate description of patients who have ongoing debilitative issues which require pain relief. This is a welcome change and I acknowledge the work from my colleagues in New Zealand First who have brought us to this point and are agreeing thus far. I remember attending a panel in the Lower Hutt War Memorial Library where I was asked along to speak on this issue. It was attended by a range of people in the community with a range of views. And it was at that panel that I heard from particular people who wished to access cannabis in one form or another who knew they could get it through green fairies—there's a few of those in the Hutt—but they didn't want to do that. They didn't want to do that because they didn't want to break the law and they were good people who didn't want to take that risk. And I know today we've heard quotes from members opposite that police won't bust people—so-called—or pursue those that are using cannabis for medicinal purposes but that's not a given. There is still police discretion in that area and that is not acceptable for people who are in ongoing pain. This is a clear fear for those who want to access cannabis but are afraid of breaking the law and having a criminal record. I also note that increasing the group of patients covered by the exception in the statutory defence provisions was a strong theme from submissions on the bill. Many of the submitters shared their experiences with chronic pain and I am pleased the bill will now give more people the choice to access medicinal cannabis by expanding the exception and statutory defence provisions and that number is estimated to be 25000 New Zealanders further than the initial definition who might find them some benefit in using medicinal cannabis products. The regulation-making power set out to improve the quality and the standards of those who are accessing medicinal cannabis—New Zealanders are already able to access medicinal cannabis and it's important to note that. But the products that are able to be prescribed by a GP Sativex—the reality is that there are few high quality products and that they cost an alarming amount so that many people who would like to access them cannot afford to do so. So this bill would enable the regulation-making power to set quality standards for medicinal cannabis products. Health practitioners are right to be cautious about prescribing some of these products. Medsafe our medicines regulator has also expressed concerns about the quality and efficacy of some of these products. It's clear that there is a need to set quality standards and we need to do this so all medicinal cannabis products being used by those know that they are safe and that they are doing what they are intended to do. The medicinal cannabis scheme will assist us to alleviate safety concerns by requiring manufacturers to show the composition of their products on the labels are true and that they are free from contaminants. That is important to give people utilising those the security and the confidence to know they are using appropriate products. This will give us trustworthy high quality standards in New Zealand around medicinal cannabis for the first time in New Zealand history. Also removing cannabidiols (CBDs) from the Misuse of Drugs Act is also what this legislation does. This bill does not make any changes in the area of recreational drug use as has already being noted by other members. That is a separate issue; that is subject to a referendum later on down the line. The bill would make CBDs a prescription medicine rather than a controlled drug. It removes them from under the Misuse of Drugs Act and those terminally ill people who are using cannabis for relief of these symptoms would no longer be criminalised for doing so. In conclusion this legislation as I've stated already takes us further than Parliament has gone with respect to medicinal cannabis. We realise that it does not please everybody. Nevertheless it represents a real step forward. We've a strong bill that all Government support partners are pleased to sign up to and that in itself is progress.I want to acknowledge and thank the members of the Health Committee for all their hard work on the bill and all of the submissions that they have gone through and listened to. I would like to thank all those submitters in New Zealand that are so keen on watching how this issue develops for the time they have taken to write their views to members of Parliament and to submit to the select committee on this issue. Please keep up the good work. I also want to acknowledge New Zealand First spokesperson Jenny Marcroft and Chlöe Swarbrick spokesperson on drug law reform for the Green Party for their hard work dedication and endless commitment to keeping this issue alive and going and being discussed right across this House no matter what party people are from. We now have a common way forward on this Government's approach to medicinal cannabis and that makes me pleased. I commend this bill to the House. Bill read a second time.