able to access the cannabis for him more
quickly.
Since Alex passed away on the first of
July 2015, Rose has campaigned openly
on behalf of other New Zealanders
who also wish to gain the right to
access medicinal cannabis. She has
also assisted others in achieving better
health outcomes.
Whilst on an unrelated matter, police saw a
cannabis plant in Rose’s garden and came back
with a search warrant.
“They removed the CBD oil, which I was using
to supply patients with - hundreds of patients
referred from doctors and specialists.”
Rose was charged with ‘Cultivation
for Supply’, not for commercial
purposes but to assist patients in
need.
“It was explained to the arresting
officer that the oil was actually the
non-psychoactive CBD, and I was
then charged because I didn’t have
a commercial hemp license. That
was a year ago and now we are at
pre-trial hearings.”
*“CBD isn’t covered by the
Misuse of Drugs Act 1975,* so we
presented an affidavit from Dr. Keith Bedford,
who is now retired. He had spent 40 years as
the ESR (govt. agency) chief analyst of illicit
materials, to show that there was nothing
‘illicit’ in the oils.”
“The Crown is struggling now and wants to
upgrade the charges, which doesn’t seem
lawful to me. That’s where we currently sit.”
Rose explains “Alex and I had a very close
bond, and before he got sick we actually talked
about this subject. Alex said to me ‘Mum,
if that ever happens to me, I want to have
Cannabis Therapy’.”
“He had figured this out for himself without
any input from me. Alex had 43 toxic chemical
drugs in his system that just weren’t working.
Cannabis should have been a ‘frontline
measure’ not the ‘last line’. If Alex had got
his cannabis treatment at the beginning of his
illness and not at the end, he might very well
be with us today.”
“This is the cause, now, that drives me to
help other people get access to effective
treatments. People should have
a choice about what they want to
put into their bodies. I am very
passionate about this. Our body,
our life and our medicine. They
took our medicine away, and I
will be battling the rest of my life,
if necessary, to get it back” she
concludes.
Rose Virginia Renton
[email protected]
Editor note – *Without consultation CBD
and CBD products were added to Misuse of
Drugs Regulation 1977 in September 2017,
despite being non Pyhosoactive they are now a
controlled drug and have been in the Medicines
Act as a prescription medicine since 2011
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