Charles Sturt University senior lecturer in medicinal chemistry, Doctor Philip Kerr, said there was evidence the drugs could work in certain cases to alleviate pain. 

Dr Kerr’s call comes as the Australian Medical Association, the Cancer Council NSW and the Australian Drug Foundation add their voices to legalise the drug in a submissions to a NSW upper house inquiry into the issue. 

The medicinal use of the drugs was a different “kettle of fish” from legalising the recreational use, he said.

“There’s enough problems in our society with alcohol and to legalise another mind-altering substance would be dangerous,” he said.

“I’ve seen students who’ve used drugs over the years and they perform poorly and lose interest in uni.” 

Dr Kerr said he could not understand why the government made it very hard to obtain permission to get cannabis for research.

“It would make sense for compounds or extracts of cannabis to be used for medical purposes,” he said.

The difficulty would be how to administer it properly, whether orally or by inhalation, which could be physiologically harmful, to reach the site where there was pain.

Dr Kerr said there was plenty of room for investigation on the best method of delivering the drug through medical professionals, police or growing the plant. 

The Daily Liberal asked why cannabis were not medically used if it was an effective drug.

“This is a guess, (but) because of the fear of it getting it out in the public,” he said.

“There’s an argument for those who need it... should grow it and distribute to others. The problem is they can distribute to those who are not authorised to obtain it. “

Dr Kerr called on politicians to have a fresh look at the issue through the eyes of medical evidence.

He said corruption and the questionable ethics of those involved in delivering the drugs fuelled the current political fear of change. 

For example, a pharmacist who had access to morphine and heroin could use them for himself and they were easy to make. 

“I’m in favour of it being looked at medicinally but to put it simply, there is no smooth sailing,” he said.