https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/01/nikki-kaye-open-to-improved-medicinal-cannabis-access.html

I am sure everypone will be pleased that Nikki Kaye has been able to
return to work following cancer treatment - treatment for cancer has
improved in recent years, but it is still a frightening diagnosis to
have received, and not all patients have such a good outcome.

Many will also be pleased that the personal experience has prompted a
change of heart in relation to medical marijuana. - which Nikki Kaye
attributes to he personal experience. Last year there was another
cancer patient - Helen Kelly - who gained a lot of publicity from her
use of marijuana to relieve some of the pains of her disease, and her
fight to see her use approved, and for their to be both a better
process for gaining approval to use marijuana in such a way and the corresponding legal changes necessary. Kelly was not successful - she
clearly came from the wrong side of politics for the National and
"United Future" parties. Let us hpe that Kaye can make some progress
on a change that appears common-sense to most of us.

While the turnaround is welcome, the circumstances do however
emphasise that in general, the National cabinet (for it is they that
make the decisions for all National MPs, and Peter Dunne as the
responsible Minister, are effectively devoid of empathy - they cannot comprehend difficulties experienced by others unless they have
experienced the same problem themselves. They are incapable of
assessing need on its merits, but tend to see every issue in terms of
partisan politics - with decisions determined based on who the person
proposing a change supports politically as on unbiassed merit.

The change in attitude from Nikki Kaye is welcome. Now all we need is
to have a National cabinet minister live in poverty for a couple of
months; to have a child contract rheumatic fever, , to try to live on
minimum wage for a time; to be running a small loval business and find
that consumers in your area have run out of disposable income.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)