New Zealand authorizes marijuana for medical ussage

While Lebanon studies a draft bill related to the legalization of medicinal cannabis (c.f: https://bit.ly/2vw5wjS), the Guardian daily reported yesterday that New Zealand has passed a law that will make medicinal marijuana available for thousands of patients. This comes after years of campaigning by chronically ill citizens who believe the drug eases their pain. The legislation, according to the Guardian, will also allow terminally ill patients to smoke the substance immediately without being prosecuted. To this end, New Zealand health minister, David Clark, said thousands of New Zealanders were living with chronic and life threatening pain and the evidence that marijuana could help ease their suffering was reliable. The new bill will reportedly pave the way for local companies to manufacture medicinal cannabis for both the domestic and international markets, raising the hopes of transforming the illicit industry into a thriving legal one. (The Guardian, December 11, 2018)
 

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