University of Sydney’s Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics is continuing its call for Australians to get involved in the Cannabis As Medicine Survey (CAMS) 2020 survey.
Similar surveys of Australians who have used cannabis for medical purposes within the previous 12 months were conducted in 2016 and 2018, and this latest survey aims to see how things have changed since the last CAMS.
The survey questions include requests for information on conditions medical cannabis is being used to treat or manage, access and administration, benefits or problems experienced and personal views on cannabis availability.
The survey, which can be found here takes around 20 minutes to complete. The survey is anonymous and confidential – participants are allocated a user ID code and responses cannot be matched to personal and/or identifying data.
On a related note, the results from CAMS 18, conducted between September 2018 and March 2019 with 1388 Australians, found just 2.7 per cent were accessing legal products. However, there are many more approvals now registered under Australia’s Special Access Scheme, so the researchers are hoping to see greater participation from Australians accessing medicines legally this time around.
The following video goes into the history of CAMS and the goals of CAMS 20
One of the issues with CAMS surveys in the past has been how long it takes for results to be released. Given how fast medicinal cannabis is evolving, hopefully results from CAMS 20 will be presented more rapidly.
The Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics has been operating since 2015. Its activities included plant science and cannabinoid production, medicinal chemistry and drug discovery. It also acts in an advocacy and educational capacity. The Initiative has been primarily funded through a $33.7 million gift to the University of Sydney back in 2016 from Australian philanthropists Barry and Joy Lambert.
Mr. Lambert has since gone on to chair ASX-listed EcoFibre, which is focused on hemp products. The topic of hemp is very close to the hearts of the Lamberts – they are grandparents of Dravet Syndrome sufferer Katelyn, who has benefited from the use of a cannabis medicine based on cannabidiol (CBD).
