Researchers from University of Sydney’s Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics have launched a new Cannabis as Medicine survey (CAMS22) this week.
The Cannabis as Medicine survey has been running every two years. It provides a snapshot of patterns of medical cannabis use among Australians, symptoms and conditions being treated or managed, methods of administration, sourcing of medicines and effects on health and driving.
The anonymous survey doesn’t just incorporate information from Australians with a medical cannabis prescription.
“In order to have a true understanding of how cannabis is being used for medicinal purposes in Australia, we really need data from all users, not just those on prescription,” said Professor Nicholas Lintzeris, who leads the CAMS initiative.
Australians over the age of 18 who have used cannabis medicinally in the past 12 months are invited to participate in the CAMS22 survey. It takes around 20 minutes to complete, but doesn’t have to be completed in one session . Participants can save their responses at any point and return to complete it later. CAMS 22 will remain open for submissions until March 2023.
As mentioned, the survey is anonymous and confidential. The Lambert Initiative states there is no way responses can be matched to personal and/or identifying data.
“The CAMS22 survey will give us an important understanding of how medicinal cannabis use is evolving in the community as it becomes more mainstream,” said Professor Lintzeris. “In order to better understand the impact and effects of medical cannabis, those using it need to be able to confidentially share their experiences, both legal and illegal.”
The previous survey, CAMS20, revealed illicit medical cannabis use was still very common in Australia but the uptake of prescription medicines was growing quickly. Professor Iain McGregor from the Lambert Initiative said since the time of that survey, there has been a further dramatic increase in the number of medical prescriptions issued.
295,515 prescriptions for medicinal cannabis have been issued since 2020, compared with just 1,011 between 2016 and 2019. Australian doctors are also increasingly getting on board with providing access to medicines. While there were only 144 doctors authorised to issue prescriptions in 2019, the number has grown 1,701 currently.
