IT WAS an undignified end for a dignified man.
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The memory of her ailing father suffering in the final months of his life sticks in Delma Montesin’s mind like a shard of glass.
John McCausland died in November after a torrid battle with throat cancer, a condition which robbed him of his ability to swallow and his ability to communicate with loved ones.
Desperate to provide him relief and failed by traditional medicine, Ms Montesin pleaded with doctors to let him try medical marijuana.
“They just kept saying it’s illegal,” Ms Montesin said.
Despite compelling evidence cannabis can have profound pain relief and appetite stimulation properties, the drug remains illegal in all states of Australia.
A national push to has pressured the NSW government to launch clinical trials into medical marijuana and introduce exemptions for terminally ill patients.
But legalisation is likely to be years away, too late for Mr McCausland thousands of other Australians.
“It’s so frustrating and distressing to watch someone you love in so much pain,” Ms Montesin said. “Traditional drugs just wouldn’t work for dad and there was something else out there we wanted to try but could have been arrested if we did.”
The month after her father’s death, Ms Montesin was forced to watch her close friend Nice in the final stages of motor neurone disease.
“Marijuana could have helped decrease her muscle spasms; she was so anxious at the end about choking,” Ms Montesin said.
“The government has to legalise this now for people in pain and suffering. It could help so many people’s quality of life.”
Meanwhile, a former Australian Federal Police (AFP) chief has urged local police to use discretion when dealing with medical marijuana users.
Mick Palmer, AFP commissioner from 1994 to 2001, said while medical marijuana users put police in a difficult position, treating them as criminals “served no good purpose”.
“We exercise discretion all the time and this is a classic case where what has to be considered is what public interest is being served,” he said. “They’re people trying to deal with an exceptionally difficult situation in the best way they know how.”