Why you still can’t get low dose medicinal cannabis from your chemist

It’s legal to sell low dose cannabidiol over the counter in Aussie pharmacies but — despite rule changes — you still can’t buy it.

It’s legal to sell low dose cannabidiol over the counter in pharmacies but three months after the rules changed you still can’t buy it.

To date no company has yet supplied evidence to the medicines watchdog the product actually works, a key step before pharmacies can sell it.

As companies scramble to prove its efficacy, one supplier is getting ahead of the game and offering free online medical consultations to prescribe the product and deliver it to people’s doors.

Cannabis Doctors Australia clinical director Dr Ben Jansen is offering to supply low dose cannabidiol under a streamlined version of the existing prescription model.

It has been possible to purchase medicinal cannabis products since 2016 but only with a doctor’s prescription.

Last year the nation’s medicines watchdog the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) changed the rules to allow low dose cannabidiol (150mg) to be supplied over the counter in pharmacies.

Before this can happen the products must be listed on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods.

This means companies that wish to supply it must prove it is efficacious for specific conditions, that it is safe for consumption and that it meets quality and consistency standards.

Clinical trials are underway but it could be late this year or as far off as 2023 before the first products are approved.

It can take the TGA up to 330 days to approve new products for sale.

In the meantime Cannabis Doctors Australia clinical director Dr Ben Jansen is offering to supply low dose cannabidiol under a streamlined version of the existing prescription model,

CDA Express (www.cdaexpress.com.au) allows people to undertake a free online doctors consultation where they provide Medicare details and information about their regular GP.

It can take the TGA up to 330 days to approve new products for sale. Picture: Juan Mabromata/AFP

“You need to also provide permission for CDA Clinics to send an advisory letter to your regular GP to inform them that you are planning to access the treatment online. Once approved, low-dose CBD treatments appear for purchase on the site,” the clinic said.

The cost of the medical consultation is absorbed by the company so patients do not have to pay, Dr Jansen said.

Cannabis products cost $49 a day for 10ml, this goes up to $435 at 40ml but most people spend around $4 a day or $120 a month.

There is no Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme subsidy for the product.

The company is hoping to reduce the cost to around $100 per month.

Dr Jansen said the low dose product is suitable for people suffering chronic pain such as fibromyalgia, anxiety, migraines, chronic pain, neuropathic pain, endometriosis, inflammation pain and nausea from chemotherapy for cancer treatment.

The Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapy at Sydney Uni has estimated people need a dose of between 300 and 1500mg a day for it to be effective.

Dr Jansen said patients will take the low dose product twice a day and suggests eating a spoonful of fatty substance like yoghurt or avocado before taking tablet to aid its absorption.

“It doesn’t have the properties that give you high so you wouldn’t experience a high,” he said.

Neither will it cause sleepiness or sedation, it is safe to drive after taking the product and the World Health Organisation said it is not addictive, he said.

Low dose cannabis is still not available from chemists. Picture: Supplied.

Cannabidiol will not work immediately and has to build up inside the body “it can take a period of time, three days to a week for the effects to really start to work”, Dr Jansen said.

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) doesn’t support allowing the low dose product being sold over the counter in pharmacies.

“While there is a slowly growing body of evidence regarding the therapeutic use of cannabinoids, it is still experimental, in some cases conflicting and far from decisive or reassuring,” it told the TGA in a submission.

It said evidence is still emerging about its effectiveness and side effects and warns doctors won’t be able to properly monitor patients when it is sold through pharmacies.