Australia is Definitely Going to Legalize Medical Marijuana in 2015
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By Barry Bard on January 7, 2015 International News
Just two weeks after Australia announced nation’s first medical marijuana trials, the nation’s senators and parliament introduced a pro-medical marijuana “private members’ bill in Senate. The bill would essentially legalize medical marijuana for Australia, as would appoint a “regulator to oversee” the nation’s medical marijuana policy.
Australian’s could vote on the bill as soon as February, which would fast track access for medical marijuana access for Australia’s patients with “terminal illnesses” or “undergoing chemotherapy.” And it seems like a slam dunk: the bill has widespread support in Australia’s Senate and amongst the nation’s Parliament members who all seem supremely confident the bill will inevitably succeed.
The bill’s sponsors are the Green party’s Richard di Natale, the Labor party’s Melissa Parke, and Sherman Stone (a “government backbencher”). While the sponsors may belong to different political parties, the push to legalize medical marijuana in Australia seems to have united the parties into a unanimous, synchronized effort.
In addition to the Green and Labor parties, the nation’s liberal Coalition party also seems on board. Warren Entsch, the Coalition’s former whip, issued a strong show of support and confidence:
The decision to legalize could hinge on the outcome of Australia’s aforementioned $9 million trials. But as we’ve seen in the past, marijuana always proves its power when tried on patients.“I don’t expect the [major]parties to come out and openly reject it,” he said. “It’s definitely going to be on the agenda when parliament sits. It’s one of my new year’s resolutions, to get this bill up.”
[The Guardian]
Thanks to: http://news.marijuana.com