Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
The Central Coast has become the home of cannabis oil supply in Australia as moves to get the drug legalised in NSW gather force.
The Express Advocate can today reveal one of the nation's biggest underground supply networks is operating in the region as thousands of sick and dying people turn to radical alternative treatment.
Local suppliers – who are prepared to go to jail for the cause – say the black-market demand for cannabis oil is "huge" from the terminally ill and those suffering chronic pain. One said he was only "small fry" with a number of clients on the Coast and as far away as Western Australia.
"It's much bigger than people think," the supplier, who did not want be named, said. "We get roughly two people a day from around Australia contact us for treatment. We can't keep up with demand."
The revelations on the full extent of the underground local operation come ahead of a planned "Enough is Enough" rally outside NSW Parliament next week, when hundreds of protesters will be calling for an easing of restrictions on medicinal cannabis use as well as a compassionate amnesty for suppliers.
"The Government is missing out on a billion-dollar industry," the Coast supplier said. "There's a huge demand for cannabis oil, and the Government needs to fully recognise this."
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the Coalition Government was "100 per cent behind the use of medicinal cannabis products where the evidence is clear it will help and not harm the patient".
"We have committed $21 million of taxpayers' money to come to grips with the issue and my clear instruction as NSW Health Minister is to get on with it as quickly as possible," Mr Hazzard said.
Victoria last year became the first state to legalise medicinal cannabis, but it's so far only been approved for children with severe epilepsy.
And the Commonwealth's amendments last year to the Narcotic Drugs Act 1967 now make it possible to control cultivation of legal cannabis crops in Australia and develop a local supply for the manufacturing of products.
In NSW doctors can prescribe cannabis-based products with no limitations on the medical conditions it can be used for. The health department says it has received five applications from doctors for authorisation to prescribe a cannabis-based medicine since new regulations came into effect on August 1 last year.
"If the complete and appropriate information has been provided, eligible applications are generally processed within 30 business days," a health department spokeswoman said.
But those who desperately want the treatment say the whole process takes several months.
"You will struggle to find a doctor willing to prescribe it," *Jane, who uses illegal cannabis oil as she battles a rare form of cancer, said.
"The paperwork alone will take six months.
"If it gets through that process it goes before a committee. If you pass that you will be allowed a synthetic oil from the US. If you have cancer you will more than likely be dead by that time."
Suppliers say they are prepared to go behind bars to help clients who are dying and in chronic pain.
"We're aware of the risks but the big support group on the Coast refuse to stop because it will mean people are going to die," the Coast supplier said.
"We believe it's the right thing to do, and we're prepared to go to jail for it."
*Jane is not her real name
DAILY CANNABIS OIL PROVIDES RELIEF
JANE always played by the rules.
As a paediatric nurse, her career was built around treating patients with traditional medicines. Her belief was strong that it was the best way to help the terminally ill and those suffering a range of other debilitating health conditions.
But that all changed in 2015 when the Central Coast mother-of-three was facing her own mortality.
Eight years earlier Jane had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer – liposarcoma – in her left leg. She was told by her doctors that traditional medicine and surgery could control the cancer. But her situation never improved.
Facing the prospect of having her leg amputated to stop the spread of cancer, Jane, 49, turned to alternative therapy in the form of illegal cannabis oil two years ago.
Like so many others who go through the black market to get the drug, she decided it was better to be illegally alive than legally dead.
"I was always a Miss Goody Two Shoes," Jane, who now volunteers for local community groups and "pays it forward", said.
"My first surgeon had never come across a case of liposarcoma. The traditional ways were not working for me, and I needed to do something before the cancer invaded my sciatic nerve and I had to get my leg amputated.
"It was a big decision to seek out cannabis oil, but I did my research into it and while I'm not cancer-free now, I've never felt better."
The treatment, which she gets from local suppliers, doesn't come cheap. She takes about half a gram orally each night, and each gram costs about $100, she says.
"I've never taken drugs or drank alcohol, so this is a very radical thing for me. My three kids (aged 23, 21 and 19) can't believe their straight-laced mum is doing it. But they can see the benefits."
Jane is telling her story in the hope others can help campaign to get cannabis oil legalised in NSW.
"As the saying goes, bad things happen when good people don't do anything," she said.
"We need to get this drug legalised so we can save lives. Politicians don't get the human side of the argument. But most online polls show the vast majority of people support its legalisation to treat the terminally ill and others with chronic illnesses.
"I'll be at the protest (out the front of NSW Parliament next Tuesday from 8am), because we need to send a strong message to politicians that people are dying and suffering greatly while they fail to legalise cannabis (oil) use for medicinal purposes. It really isn't the devil's drug."
LOCAL FAMILIES FIGHT FOR THE RIGHT
TWO Central Coast families' fight for cannabis to be legalised for medicinal use has put the region in the national spotlight.
The Lambert family was featured on 60 Minutes last year when dad Michael said the only treatment which helped control his daughter Katelyn's seizures seemed to be medical cannabis.
Mr Lambert faced charges after cultivating his own cannabis crop to ensure he had a steady supply for his sick daughter, who suffers from Dravet Syndrome.
"I love my Katelyn and any law that says I have to watch her die, and not look after her, is a stupid law, it needs to be changed," he told 60 Minutes.
Fellow Coastie Craig Goodwin has been arrested three times – in February 2013, November 2013 and February 2015 – and went to jail for 10 months after his second conviction for supplying cannabis oil to people dying of cancer.
Mr Goodwin became a compassionate supplier after claiming to have cured his own terminal cancer with medicinal cannabis.
He is on a two-year good behaviour bond after his 2015 conviction and will be jailed if he is caught growing cannabis again in 2017.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Central Coast Revealed As Underground Home Of Cannabis Oil
Author: Matt Taylor
Contact: 9288 3000
Photo Credit: Peter Clark
Website: News Local
The Express Advocate can today reveal one of the nation's biggest underground supply networks is operating in the region as thousands of sick and dying people turn to radical alternative treatment.
Local suppliers – who are prepared to go to jail for the cause – say the black-market demand for cannabis oil is "huge" from the terminally ill and those suffering chronic pain. One said he was only "small fry" with a number of clients on the Coast and as far away as Western Australia.
"It's much bigger than people think," the supplier, who did not want be named, said. "We get roughly two people a day from around Australia contact us for treatment. We can't keep up with demand."
The revelations on the full extent of the underground local operation come ahead of a planned "Enough is Enough" rally outside NSW Parliament next week, when hundreds of protesters will be calling for an easing of restrictions on medicinal cannabis use as well as a compassionate amnesty for suppliers.
"The Government is missing out on a billion-dollar industry," the Coast supplier said. "There's a huge demand for cannabis oil, and the Government needs to fully recognise this."
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the Coalition Government was "100 per cent behind the use of medicinal cannabis products where the evidence is clear it will help and not harm the patient".
"We have committed $21 million of taxpayers' money to come to grips with the issue and my clear instruction as NSW Health Minister is to get on with it as quickly as possible," Mr Hazzard said.
Victoria last year became the first state to legalise medicinal cannabis, but it's so far only been approved for children with severe epilepsy.
And the Commonwealth's amendments last year to the Narcotic Drugs Act 1967 now make it possible to control cultivation of legal cannabis crops in Australia and develop a local supply for the manufacturing of products.
In NSW doctors can prescribe cannabis-based products with no limitations on the medical conditions it can be used for. The health department says it has received five applications from doctors for authorisation to prescribe a cannabis-based medicine since new regulations came into effect on August 1 last year.
"If the complete and appropriate information has been provided, eligible applications are generally processed within 30 business days," a health department spokeswoman said.
But those who desperately want the treatment say the whole process takes several months.
"You will struggle to find a doctor willing to prescribe it," *Jane, who uses illegal cannabis oil as she battles a rare form of cancer, said.
"The paperwork alone will take six months.
"If it gets through that process it goes before a committee. If you pass that you will be allowed a synthetic oil from the US. If you have cancer you will more than likely be dead by that time."
Suppliers say they are prepared to go behind bars to help clients who are dying and in chronic pain.
"We're aware of the risks but the big support group on the Coast refuse to stop because it will mean people are going to die," the Coast supplier said.
"We believe it's the right thing to do, and we're prepared to go to jail for it."
*Jane is not her real name
DAILY CANNABIS OIL PROVIDES RELIEF
JANE always played by the rules.
As a paediatric nurse, her career was built around treating patients with traditional medicines. Her belief was strong that it was the best way to help the terminally ill and those suffering a range of other debilitating health conditions.
But that all changed in 2015 when the Central Coast mother-of-three was facing her own mortality.
Eight years earlier Jane had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer – liposarcoma – in her left leg. She was told by her doctors that traditional medicine and surgery could control the cancer. But her situation never improved.
Facing the prospect of having her leg amputated to stop the spread of cancer, Jane, 49, turned to alternative therapy in the form of illegal cannabis oil two years ago.
Like so many others who go through the black market to get the drug, she decided it was better to be illegally alive than legally dead.
"I was always a Miss Goody Two Shoes," Jane, who now volunteers for local community groups and "pays it forward", said.
"My first surgeon had never come across a case of liposarcoma. The traditional ways were not working for me, and I needed to do something before the cancer invaded my sciatic nerve and I had to get my leg amputated.
"It was a big decision to seek out cannabis oil, but I did my research into it and while I'm not cancer-free now, I've never felt better."
The treatment, which she gets from local suppliers, doesn't come cheap. She takes about half a gram orally each night, and each gram costs about $100, she says.
"I've never taken drugs or drank alcohol, so this is a very radical thing for me. My three kids (aged 23, 21 and 19) can't believe their straight-laced mum is doing it. But they can see the benefits."
Jane is telling her story in the hope others can help campaign to get cannabis oil legalised in NSW.
"As the saying goes, bad things happen when good people don't do anything," she said.
"We need to get this drug legalised so we can save lives. Politicians don't get the human side of the argument. But most online polls show the vast majority of people support its legalisation to treat the terminally ill and others with chronic illnesses.
"I'll be at the protest (out the front of NSW Parliament next Tuesday from 8am), because we need to send a strong message to politicians that people are dying and suffering greatly while they fail to legalise cannabis (oil) use for medicinal purposes. It really isn't the devil's drug."
LOCAL FAMILIES FIGHT FOR THE RIGHT
TWO Central Coast families' fight for cannabis to be legalised for medicinal use has put the region in the national spotlight.
The Lambert family was featured on 60 Minutes last year when dad Michael said the only treatment which helped control his daughter Katelyn's seizures seemed to be medical cannabis.
Mr Lambert faced charges after cultivating his own cannabis crop to ensure he had a steady supply for his sick daughter, who suffers from Dravet Syndrome.
"I love my Katelyn and any law that says I have to watch her die, and not look after her, is a stupid law, it needs to be changed," he told 60 Minutes.
Fellow Coastie Craig Goodwin has been arrested three times – in February 2013, November 2013 and February 2015 – and went to jail for 10 months after his second conviction for supplying cannabis oil to people dying of cancer.
Mr Goodwin became a compassionate supplier after claiming to have cured his own terminal cancer with medicinal cannabis.
He is on a two-year good behaviour bond after his 2015 conviction and will be jailed if he is caught growing cannabis again in 2017.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Central Coast Revealed As Underground Home Of Cannabis Oil
Author: Matt Taylor
Contact: 9288 3000
Photo Credit: Peter Clark
Website: News Local
