How to Access Legal Medical Cannabis in Australia
How to Access Legal Medical Cannabis in Australia

How to Access Legal Medical Cannabis in Australia

The Hemp Embassy has been operational for almost 30 years, and we educate on how cannabis may assist various medical conditions, but we are not medical professionals.

Cannabis is a safe herbal product which is often used alongside other therapies. However, we recommend that you consult your doctor in regard to using cannabis. It is important that you rely on guidance from your doctor to employ sound judgement for your specific condition. Cannabis therapy is not intended to be a substitute for the advice of a doctor.

ADVICE FOR PATIENTS

To access legal medical cannabis, you would do that via a General Practitioner (GP).

DIRECTORIES TO FIND GPs:

A number of GPs in Australia are already prescribing cannabis for a range of conditions. If you’re in their local area, you might like to contact:

Dr Matty Moore has approval with the TGA and Western Australia Health as an Authorized Prescriber of medicinal cannabis.

With a primary focus in endocannabinoid medicine, Byron Bay NSW based Dr Jamie Rickcord complements his practice with the science forward approach to plant-based medicine.

Dr John Teh from PlantMed in Brisbane is prescribing Cannabis oil for pain management, epilepsy and other conditions under the Queensland Medical Marijuana Trial.

CANNABIS CLINICS:

A number of Cannabis Clinics have appeared in Australia who help doctors and patients to access legal medical cannabis products. You might like to contact them for assistance, though be aware that they charge for their service. The list below is alphabetical order:

IMPORTANT ADVICE

ADVICE FOR DOCTORS

General practitioners (GPs) who have any questions about prescribing medical cannabis through the Special Access Scheme or Authorised Prescriber Scheme can ring the special Therapeutic Goods Administration [TGA] hotline:

TGA Medicinal Cannabis Hotline for GPs
Phone: 1800 020 653
Monday – Friday (9-5pm)
Email: medicinal.cannabis@health.gov.au

TGA has advice on accessing to medicinal cannabis products using access schemes.

TGA List of Medicinal cannabis products by active ingredients

The federal government’s Office of Drug Control’s [ODC] website on medicinal cannabis which includes a listing of the licensed cultivators and manufacturers.

The Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics at the University of Sydney also provides advice on accessing legal medical cannabis.

MEDICAL CANNABIS EDUCATION FOR DOCTORS:

CANNect Group offers GPs and other practitioners the support they need to effectively and efficiently prescribe medicinal cannabis in Australia

Medihuanna, teaches health professionals how to prescribe medicinal cannabis in Australia.

United in Compassion, runs a medical cannabis course for health practitioners.

EXPENSIVE LEGAL PRODUCTS: Federally medical cannabis is legal, but its prescription is extremely limited to a small number of medical conditions as determined state by state. Legal medical cannabis products in Australia are very expensive compared to products available from the black market, mainly because the products currently available on prescription are mostly imported from Canada or Israel. In the meantime, Australia producers export to overseas markets. Madness when Australia has a long history of cultivating top quality cannabis, despite the substantial legal difficulties. Unfortunately among the politicians there isn’t much of an appetite for cultivating a domestic cannabis industry.

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