A FORUM in Bendigo has heard of the pain some families and individuals are going through without legal access to medicinal cannabis.
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About 30 people attended a Victorian Law Reform Commission forum at the Capital Theatre to discuss what sort of conditions should qualify for medicinal cannabis, the role of doctors and pharmacists, and the risks.
After an introduction from facilitator Ian Freckelton QC, people from Bendigo and surrounds had the opportunity to relay their experiences with cannabis as a form of relief from a number of conditions.
One man said should medicinal cannabis have been legal, his father might not have taken his own life.
"He tried to use natural sources, and they put him in a psych home," he said.
"They put him on anti-depressants and it drove him to suicide.
"I just wish I could have shared all of this with him. He might still be around."
Others argued that the side effects associated with many other prescription drugs, including opioids, were much worse than with cannabis.
Some established side effects of cannabis use included paranoia and anxiety, dependence and, in some rare cases, psychosis.
A man who has sought to use the healing qualities of cannabis for up to 30 years said it would be impossible to stop people from buying illegally unless the government made changes to current laws.
"Those who need it will defy, and those who sell it will supply," he said.
One woman said distribution of medicinal cannabis should be done through naturopaths, rather than GPs, and the government should be seeking more opinions from those who have used cannabis for relief.
Another attendee said there were many who would qualify under "exceptional circumstances", but some had still not exhausted all of their options.
"The exceptions should be that you've tried all of these things from GPs, and taken it all to the maximum level, do you spend the rest of your life in a dead state with nowhere else to go?" he said.
"If you haven't tried it all out though, then you haven't reached the exceptional circumstances level."
Ian Freckelton QC said the main issues to overcome were deciding who would be eligible for medicinal cannabis, how the government could safely and efficiently manufacture the crops and how to make it affordable.
"Selling cannabis for smoking would be inappropriate for children, it goes against current public health messages," he said.
"The alternative is to create cannabis oil, which requires a lot of plants and is expensive to manufacture.
"At the moment, doctors cannot opt in and they do not have much knowledge about cannabis because it has been marginalised for so long."
Mr Freckelton said importing cannabis oil from overseas was an unlikely option for the government, given the price and the various legislation overseas.
The medication could also be adjusted depending on the level of relief required, by increasing or decreasing the proportion of THC, the main psychoactive constituent of cannabis.
He said "grow your own schemes" were also unlikely to be an option, given police concerns about diversion and recreational users.
"Of course, if the cost isn't low enough then people are just going to continue to go to illegal sellers," Mr Freckelton.
The VLRC will use its findings in a report to Victoria's Attorney-General.
The Victorian government is expected to introduce legislation on medicinal cannabis towards the end of this year.
