Changes to medical cannabis access in Australia may be in the wind according to Federal Health Minister Mark Butler.
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) recently updated prescribing guidelines after an increase in poor medical cannabis prescribing practices, including consultations that last seconds or a couple of minutes, and prescription without a legitimate medical condition.
Ahpra noted eight practitioners had issued more than 10,000 scripts in a six-month window, and one who appears to have issued over 17,000 scripts over two years.
In a television interview with Minister Butler this week, the Minister was quizzed on his concerns regarding unsafe practices in the industry.
“This is a product that’s providing a lot of relief to a lot of people, medicinal cannabis, from kids with epilepsy right up to adults with really hard-to-treat mental health issues,” he said. “But there are some business practices that have emerged that are, frankly, unsafe and certainly unscrupulous.”
The Minister has asked regulators to delve into the issues and provide health ministers in each state with advice on how to regulate the industry in a “more safe way” that will give patients confidence when considering such treatments.
He was also asked if workers with cannabis prescriptions can be protected if they test positive to the intoxicating cannabinoid tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) at work. THC can be detected in the blood days or even weeks after it has been consumed, long after any impairment.
In part of his reply, Minister Butler said:
“I know there’s a debate happening down in Victoria about whether workplace health and safety laws there should be varied to deal with this new treatment. But the first principle must be people should be supported through their medical treatment. There will obviously be questions about using heavy equipment and the like, but I think it is time to have that debate about updating our laws.”
A full transcript of the interview can be found here.
Medical cannabis was legalised in Australia back in 2016, but prescriptions began skyrocketing just a few years ago; with almost two million scripts issued since 2020 and more than 800,000 just in 2024. As at the end of last year, 57 practitioners had medical board action taken against them in relation to prescribing medicinal cannabis.
