"If what they are doing — smoking cannabis plant — was great as a pain reliever, why are they still in front of us looking for pain-relief solutions?
"There are a few . . . that I have given the tacit nod to what they are already doing, which is smoking, not for pain specifically, but for certain other problems for which the cannabinoids are known to be helpful, like stimulating appetite.
"I think there is a soporific relaxing effect, but that also leads to some of the non-functionality of people lying around not terribly motivated to do much."
Dr Jones said there was a lack of proven pain-relief products using the right cannabinoids.
"There are over 100 different cannabinoid products in the plants.
"I think there will be a small place for them in a few chronic pain conditions, intractable neuropathic types of pain, not your common garden back pain."
Lack of "quality research" was a big problem, especially around long-term use.
"At present the evidence, as I and other colleagues read it, is not strongly favouring long-term use for chronic pain, unfortunately."
Patients with neuropathic pain lacked opioid receptors due to nerve damage, which meant they stood to benefit the most from medicinal cannabis.
"I think it’s a shame that we’ve got this far down my career that we haven’t got that good evidence sitting in front of us now," Dr Jones said.
This week Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne announced the Government was shifting responsibility for some approvals from his desk to the Ministry of Health.
Mr Dunne took a swipe at doctors when announcing the change, challenging them to be open-minded, and saying some feared being labelled "Dr Dope".
Dr Jones said the issue risked becoming a political football in an election year.
"I think [Mr Dunne is] reacting to public popular clamour.
"I would want to see better evidence yet from some properly done trials."
Dr Jones expected many of his patients to become more vocal because of the publicity. He also said he felt sympathy for Mr Dunne, who had been making clinical decisions around non-pharmaceutical-grade medicinal cannabis.
"It seemed an unfair pressure on him to me."
