Who can get medicinal marijuana?
Updated
You might be confused by the announcement today that the Federal Government has approved the importation of medicinal marijuana.
After all, some patients have already been legally taking the drug, so you'd be forgiven for wondering where they've been getting it from.
So how were people getting medicinal marijuana before now?
Doctors have already been importing the drug, but they've been doing it on a patient-by-patient basis.
This involves a long process of approvals through the states and the Therapeutic Goods Association, who require paperwork outlining the evidence and potential benefits, and it's also reliant on the availability of the drug overseas.
Because of this, some people have had to wait months before they actually receive their treatments.
As of now, though, it will be easier to import medicinal marijuana from approved international suppliers, which means the product will be able to be imported in bulk and warehoused in Australia until it's needed.
Health Minister Greg Hunt says the importation rules will be relaxed until there's an Australian industry that's up to the task of meeting demand.
That could be a while: a law allowing the cultivation of medicinal marijuana in Australia only came into effect in October last year, and the first licence for private cultivation was only issued last week.
Where is medicinal cannabis legal?
Federal GovernmentMedicinal cannabis use is still illegal and only available through trials and limited special access schemes.
But, earlier this year, the Federal Government passed legislation legalising the cultivation of cannabis for medicinal purposes.
Queensland
Queensland doctors will soon be able to prescribe it for their patients' treatment. New laws will give certain specialists including oncologists, paediatric neurologists and palliative care specialists the right to prescribe medicinal cannabis from March 2017. Other doctors would be able to apply to Queensland Health for permission to prescribe the drug for patients with certain conditions.
Tasmania
The State Government announced in April specialist medical practitioners would be allowed to prescribe the drug to patients suffering serious and chronic illness from 2017.
NSW
In July, NSW Premier Mike Baird said 40 children in the state with the most severe cases of drug-resistant epilepsy would now have access to a cannabis-based treatment under a compassionate access scheme.
NSW is conducting a trial for patients suffering vomiting and nausea as a result of chemotherapy.
Western Australia
The WA Government previously said it would not conduct medicinal cannabis trials until it received the results of testing in New South Wales.
Northern Territory
Not legal.
South Australia
In April, SA Health Minister Jack Snelling ruled out changing the law in South Australia at this stage.
Victoria
It's legal here. It was the first state to pass legislation legalising the use of medicinal cannabis.
That means it'll now be easier to get it?
Yes and no.
If you already have approval to use medicinal marijuana, then yes, you'll no longer have to wait for the product you need to be imported, assuming that product is one that has met all of the import regulations.
But if you don't already have a prescription, it won't be any easier to get one as a result of this change.
How hard is it to get a prescription?
Quite hard, because medicinal marijuana isn't approved by the Therapeutic Goods Association (TGA) as a registered good.
You need special approval to take it, and the TGA provides two ways for you to go about getting this:
- Firstly, doctors can apply to become "authorised prescribers" of specific non-listed drugs to patients with particular medical conditions
- Secondly, doctors can apply for medicinal marijuana on behalf of their patients through the "Special Access Scheme"
In both cases, doctors need to be able to show that the drug would be of benefit for a particular patient with a particular disease, and the application processes are stringent.
As well, the use of marijuana for medical purposes still needs to be legal in your state or territory.
On that note, individual states and territories also have their own laws regarding access to medicinal marijuana.
Who can get prescriptions?
Individual states and territories can make access available to specific types of patients. For instance, the Victorian Government announced in 2015 that it was legalising access to medicinal cannabis in "exceptional circumstances", including cases of children with severe epilepsy.
The TGA isn't specific about which illnesses might be eligible for special access, but medicinal marijuana has been used to treat people with epilepsy, chronic pain, cancer and HIV/AIDS.
So it's not as easy to get medical marijuana in Australia as it is in California?
No, it's not.
"In America, you can go to the doctor with a headache and get a prescription for medicinal marijuana," said Professor Jennifer Martin, chair of clinical pharmacology at the University of Newcastle.
She says she's in favour of Australia's more slow and steady approach to developing knowledge about the safety and efficacy of medicinal marijuana, though she understands that some people are impatient to get access.
"Doctors here don't want pressure to provide scripts yet because we want to make sure it's actually safe and effective first," Professor Martin said.
Is the evidence on medicinal marijuana in yet?
On the whole, no.
Professor Martin says there is some positive evidence about certain treatments: for instance, for epilepsy.
But she says much more research needs to be done to make sure that treatments are a) more effective than alternatives and b) don't have side effects which mean they shouldn't be used.
Topics: medical-research, health, cannabis, australia
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