Doctors warn of rising numbers of psychosis events, as Qld tops nation for medical cannabis prescriptions

Queenslanders are being prescribed more medical cannabis than four other states combined in alarming statistics that have peak medical bodies crying out for change.

Queensland’s peak medical bodies have sounded the alarm over the state’s skyrocketing medicinal cannabis prescriptions, with the Health Minister vowing to strengthen regulations around the drug.

The Sunday Mail can reveal Queensland has issued 167,000 scripts since the legalisation of medical cannabis in 2016 compared to 156,000 combined across Victoria, NSW, Western Australia and South Australia.

Doctors warn the excessive provision of products with highly potent concentrations of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is causing psychotic breaks in some patients with no mental health history.

Medicinal cannabis products include capsules, creams, oils, lozenges and sprays. They are regulated by the TGA, and practitioners are required to comply with the rules.

The TGA website states “most medicinal cannabis goods are unapproved goods” which “have not been assessed by us for safety, quality, performance or effectiveness”.

Medical cannabis comes in a number of different forms. Picture: NCA NewsWire

Access to unapproved medicinal cannabis goods by registered health professionals for their patients is very limited and can only occur “where clinically appropriate”.

Health Minister Tim Nicholls said he was working with stakeholders to ensure the industry was appropriately prescribing medicinal cannabis after the Australian Medical Association, the College of Psychiatrists and the College of General Practitioners wrote to him voicing concerns.

AMA Queensland president Nick Yim said the rapid increase in use was “alarming”, with the 2023 Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists report finding the state’s rate of prescribing to be higher than that of all other jurisdictions combined.

“We’re deeply concerned that the high level of inappropriate prescribing is being exacerbated by powerful vested interests in the medicinal cannabis market,” Dr Yim said.

Since becoming legal in 2016, the use of medical cannabis in the state has exploded and 45 per cent of practitioners who are prescribing products that have not been evaluated by the TGA are from Queensland.

Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Tim Nicholls. Picture: David Clark

Last year Queensland Health conducted a survey of medicos on the use of medicinal cannabis. One dispenser stated: “I’ve also seen that the majority of scripts for THC are for anxiety, however therapeutic guidelines do not recommend THC for anxiety, leading me to believe that prescribers are … handing out scripts like lollies for the $150+ private payment per appointment.”

Almost 90 per cent of health practitioners in the survey said they held concerns. Almost 60 per cent were aware of patients experiencing adverse events, and 44 per cent were not confident in their knowledge of their legal obligations.

Mr Nicholls said there were no plans to wind back medicinal cannabis and he wanted to be “guided by the evidence” in terms of the impact the high prescription rate had on hospital presentations.

Dr Yim warned that psychotic illnesses were increasing because of inappropriate prescribing and use of medicinal cannabis products.

Originally published as Doctors warn of rising numbers of psychosis events, as Qld tops nation for medical cannabis prescriptions