HOSPITALS and chemists could start supplying free, taxpayer-funded cannabis as part of Baird government reforms that will see possession and use of the drug decriminalised for dying patients.

Police will be given formal new guidelines “within weeks” ordering them not to prosecute any terminally ill person who is found in possession of up to 15 grams of cannabis.

EDITORIAL: LEGAL USE A MAJOR ISSUE TO MULL OVER

media_camera Dan Haslam has terminal cancer and his family, and the town of Tamworth have battled to decriminalise cannabis for the terminally ill because it keeps the post chemo nausea at bay."

While it stops short of ­decriminalising marijuana, it will extend officers’ current ability to use discretion to caution adults caught with small amounts of the drug.

The NSW government announced the plans yesterday, along with a clinical trial into cannabis for pain relief and appetite stimulation that could lead to dying patients getting cannabis on prescription.

Nationals MP Kevin And-erson, who has campaigned for the changes along with the Tamworth-based Haslam family, said he wants terminally ill patients given the drug free.

“Ultimately it will be a NSW government supply scheme — I certainly don’t want to see those people who have a terminal illness pay for it,” he said.

media_camera Dan Haslam with his mother Lucy who has collected almost 200,000 signatures calling for cannabis law reform and his dad Lou who is a former NSW drug squad detective.

A working party of MPs, police and health professionals will report in December on how the scheme will work and discuss how the drug will be grown and supplied.

Options include having a government agency or private contractors grow the drug under strict conditions before it’s made into an oil or paste.

Mr Anderson believes dying patients should be assessed by doctors and those who qualify given certificates allowing them to access cannabis.

media_camera NSW Premier Mike Baird with Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner, the Coalition plans to legalise the possession and use of cannabis for medicinal purposes. Picture: Adam Taylor

Premier Mike Baird said cannabis should not become more available to recreational users: “We want to give the terminally ill, their carers and families greater peace of mind.”

The Haslam family collected 200,000 signatures on a change.org petition. Daniel Haslam, 24, was diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer in 2010 and uses the drug to ease his pain and stimulate his appetite.

media_camera Dan Haslam and his wife Alyce.

His mother Lucy, a retired nurse, and his father Lou, a former NSW drugs squad detective, buy cannabis illegally for Daniel but say they should not be made to feel like criminals. “To be quite honest it was more soul-destroying watching him suffering than actually breaking the law,” Ms Haslam said.

His plight was highlighted in The Sunday Telegraph.

The Australian Medical ­Association has backed the plans. A number of other states are investigating similar rules and Victoria has announced plans for clinical trials.

Opposition leader John Robertson said the legislation would “only delay real action and potentially lead to confusion for police”.