Labor will legalise medicinal cannabis in Victoria if elected in November.
Victorian Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews says people with terminal or life-threatening conditions should be able to access the drug without breaking the law.
If elected on November 29, Labor will move to give patients access to the drug in liquid or tablet form but smoking marijuana for medicinal purposes will not be decriminalised.
"In some cases, parents are forced to choose between breaking the law and watching their child suffer," Mr Andrews said.
"Children are in pain, families are suffering, people are living in fear, and outdated laws are getting in the way."
A Labor government will ask the Victorian Law Reform Commission to design a regulatory framework by August next year with a view to presenting legislation in parliament before the end of 2015.
Mr Andrews said there was evidence cannabis oil could have a powerful effect treating the very ill.
Health Minister David Davis has asked the state's chief officer responsible for drugs and poisons to report on a number of medical-marijuana products but says more testing needs to be done.
"With respect to Labor, the Law Reform Commission is not a medically qualified body," Mr Davis told reporters on Sunday.
"It's not a body that is in a good position itself to assess the evidence or the clinical trials."
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) in Victoria is supportive of the move, but also says more testing needs to be done.
"AMA Victoria supports more research into the administration of medicinal cannabis, as smoking or ingesting a crude plant product is harmful," president Tony Bartone said.
Labor's move follows public campaigns by Victorian families who have successfully treated their chronically ill children with medicinal cannabis when other medicines failed.
Cheri and David O'Connell, who treat their nine-year-old daughter Tara's seizures with cannabis oil and cannabis tinctures, believe their daughter would not be alive without the treatment.
"We need a (framework) so that we can walk into a chemist and pick up a script just like we would for any other drug that we use," Mrs O'Connell said.
Share
