Qld still leads nation in scripts approved for medicinal marijuana

The number of applications for medical marijuana has dropped for the first time since the treatment was legalised in Australia, but Queensland continues to have more scripts approved than the other states and territories combined.

The number of applications for medical marijuana prescriptions dropped for the first time since the treatment was legalised in Australia, but Queensland continues to have more prescriptions approved than the other states and territories combined.

Advocates say the fall is due to red-tape reduction making it easier for authorised doctors to prescribe the drug without making a special application, as well as some patients turning back to the black market due to high costs of legal access.

There were 118,000 special-access scheme B applications made for medical marijuana in 2022, compared to 122,000 the previous year, according to data from the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

It was the first time there had been a dip in the number of applications since it was legalised in 2016, with the number having climbed exponentially.

Queensland has been the dominant state in the industry, with 167,000 prescription applications

coming from the sunshine state since 2016.

A cannabis plant. Picture: Mladen Antonov/AFP

This compares to 72,890 in Victoria, 61,380 in NSW, 19,290 in WA and just 2690 in South Australia.

Australian Medicinal Cannabis Association chair Lucy Haslam said there had been an increase in authorised prescribers, who are not required to apply for prescriptions via the special access scheme, which could account for the fall in applications.

“It’s cut a lot of red tape and shows more doctors are confident to prescribe,” Ms Haslam said.

She said there was anecdotal evidence some patients had tried legal access to medicinal marijuana but returned to illicit sources due to the high costs involved.

“It’s not just the product cost,” she said

“As well as the cost of the medicine, a lot of clinics charge high consultation fees and every time a patient goes back, they get charged another fee.”

The class of medication is not subsidised under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

Australian Medicinal Cannabis Association chair Lucy Haslam. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Ms Haslam said a government education program that informed people about the options around medicinal marijuana and where they could go would help keep people off the black market.

According to the TGA, chronic pain is the most common reason for medicinal cannabis to be prescribed, followed by anxiety, sleep disorder and cancer patients.

The largest age cohort is 18-44-year-olds, responsible for 166,000 of the special access B applications since 2016, followed by those aged 45-64 with 100,00 applications, then 65-74-year-olds.

The federal government legalised access to medical marijuana in 2016, with access and prescriptions remaining tightly controlled.

Access is only granted on a case-by-case basis through a registered health practitioner.