Country Women’s Association backs legalisation of medical marijuana

Our country’s largest women’s group, the self-funded volunteer organisation, Country Women’s Association, has come out in support behind legalising medicinal cannabis at its 93rd CWA NSW Conference in Tamworth.

The Association used its yearly conference to outline its support for a range of issues, the first in support of the use of medicinal marijuana, and the second in support of the legalisation of growing, manufacturing and distributing marijuana for medicinal purposes, reports the ABC.

State President, Tanya Cameron, acknowledged the debate behind the motions and said they thought hard about their decision but a good majority were in favour of both motions.

“At the end of the day the members decided that they were voting on the principle of the idea of supporting the use of medical marijuana and that it was an opportunity for us to perhaps change that legislation,” she said.

“It’s more a case of us adding our voices if you like to those that are already calling for the legalisation of medicinal marijuana”.

It has been more than 10 years since the Country Women’s Association voted on medicinal cannabis.

“We know a lot more about it now than perhaps we did when we last voted on this same topic,” Ms Cameron said.

“There was some discussion about whether it was 2002 or 2003 but it certainly has [been discussed before] and at the time it was a tied vote and the President used her casting vote to keep the status quo so the motion was actually lost that time.

“But this time they both went through”.

The theme of this year’s conference was “Refresh, Renew and Regenerate” which in part was angled at new and younger women so that the organisations philanthropic and community work can continue into the future.

“We need to go to the space young people occupy, there are a lot of women who want to learn the skills that are now missing in their world and we can provide an avenue for that,”said Ms Cameron.

Other topics discussed at the conference included coal seam gas and domestic violence, with experts speaking on both topics.

And of course, CWA didn’t forget about a bake-off and there were plenty of treats for the attendees.

Tell us, are you a member of a CWA? Are you also behind the legalisation of marijuana for medicinal purposes?