Politicians are dragging the chain on making a decision on legalising cannabis for medicinal purposes.
Pain - it's something we all experience at some time in our lives.
It's about as unavoidable as death and taxes.
Chronic pain, however, is a beast of a different kind.
Popping a couple of Panadol just won't cut the mustard. For the sufferer, life becomes unbearable especially when even the strongest of legally prescribed analgesics are failing to even take the edge off.
So what's the answer?
Many have said "bring on the medicinal cannabis" and I tend to agree.
Having watched my mum suffer from relentless excruciating pain in spite of heroin and morphine-based pain relief, from which she received very little relief at all, I would have done whatever was necessary to get my hands on some if she had agreed to take it. And I mean dope of any kind - trust me, I did offer to purchase some for her.
I would have been willing to try anything if it meant she was to suffer a little less.
And yet here we are, years after the idea was originally floated, still waiting for definitive actions and answers.
The stuff grows wild and naturally, like garlic, aloe, tumeric and st johns wort, all of which have medicinal properties, along with hundreds of other plants and flowers, why are they not deemed illegal as well? Man's law is a fickle thing.
I'm surprised catnip isn't a controlled substance, available only on prescription by a vet. Give it time and Gareth Morgan will be calling for it to be banned, arguing that one whiff can cause a cat to become a serial killer of native birds.
But seriously, there is just no logic to the thinking of the politicians who are in charge of the decision making when it comes to medicinal cannabis, not to mention the sheer hypocrisy.
Millions of tax payer dollars are shelled out annually to fund thousands of daily doses of methadone for drug addicts without question, yet they drag the chain when it comes to offering people in real pain, with chronic conditions a viable alternative. What kind of message is that sending to the terminally and genuinely ill? That drug addicts are worth more?
Furthermore it's probably a cheaper option than what some of the greedy pharmaceutical companies are charging for their drugs. Then there is the issue of "legal highs" that government were quick to approve the sale of until our kids started dying and experiencing addiction problems that literally ruined lives.
Can we even trust our politicians to make good decisions? We all know, from the tax rate imposed (or not) that alcohol is pretty much their drug of choice. With liquid lunches, dinners and 40-year-old bottles of scotch in the drawer of offices, some MPs may not pass an alcohol breath test first thing in the morning.
If health and safety is so important in the workplace, they should lead by example and prove that they are in a fit state to conduct business unimpaired, because these decisions affect us all.
Random breath testing at the Beehive!
In the meantime, I guess we just keep playing the waiting game, while they continue to argue the merits and possible introduction of medicinal cannabis over drinky-poos.
It's a painful process - anyone for a bong?
-Kate Stewart is a politically incorrect columnist of no repute. Born and bred in Wanganui, she does not suffer fools gladly but does welcome feedback sent to investik8@gmail.com
'You think about all the times it has rung out, all the weddings.'