How to access medicinal Cannabis in Australia

In February 2016, the Australian government amended the Narcotic Drugs Act 1967 to regulate the cultivation and manufacturing of Cannabis for medical and scientific purposes. It became legal to import medicinal Cannabis. In March 2017, the first medical Cannabis license was provided. Since then, medicinal Cannabis has been rapidly growing, with around 275.000 prescriptions written.

Medicinal Cannabis is any Cannabis product prescribed by a doctor to relieve the symptoms of a medical condition. Cannabis is heavily regulated in Australia. While this might be frustrating for some, it does benefit you. Medicinal Cannabis in Australia is heavily tested, resulting in high quality and safe products with fewer side effects. At least the safest Cannabis can be; there could be risks in using Cannabis for certain people, so please check this article if you want to learn more. With Medicinal Cannabis, you know exactly what type of Cannabis you are getting so you can select the best profile for your needs. While with recreational Cannabis, you might not get all the information on the origins of the plant and what effect it will have.

Because most medicinal cannabis products are unapproved and not part of the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG), you can't access them as easily as you would traditional registered medicine. The TGA, which regulates access to all medication, including medicinal Cannabis, has created three pathways for doctors to access medicinal Cannabis.

Special Access Scheme (SAS)

The SAS allows doctors to apply to the TGA to prescribe medicinal Cannabis. All GPs in Australia can apply to the TGA, except for GPs in Tasmania, where the application must be made by a specialist. Under the SAS, the process takes about two weeks on average. After your doctor fills out the TGA application, the TGA will respond between 48-72hrs. If approved, your script will be sent to a pharmacy. Script processing could take up to 72 hrs, and if you want it delivered, please take a few days for delivery into account.  

Authorised Prescribers (APs)

Authorised Prescribers don't need to make individual TGA applications; they can prescribe directly to patients under their care. Because Authorised Prescribers don't have to apply to the TGA, so you can receive your medical Cannabis faster.

Clinical Trials

If you are eligible and selected to participate in a clinical trial, you might get access to medicinal Cannabis however, this is not a guarantee. You could be part of the control group, but that doesn't guarantee that you will be eligible for a refill after the trial is completed. Clinical trials are essential to gather more data on the effectiveness of Cannabis, and participating in a trial could help generations to come.

Eligibility

If you have a chronic medical condition where conventional treatment options were determined unsuitable, and there is scientific evidence to support the use of medicinal Cannabis for your condition, you might be eligible for medicinal Cannabis.

Approved and registered medical Cannabis

There are two medicinal cannabis products registered with the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG):

• Epidyolex (cannabidiol) is an epilepsy drug used for seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome or Dravet syndrome for patients two years and up.

• Sativex oromucosal Spray (nabiximols) is used as a treatment for MS patients who have not responded favourably to other anti-spasticity medications.