By Margaret Maccoll
Less than six weeks out from its first harvest Sunshine Coast medicinal cannabis producer Medifarm welcomed last week’s news the Queensland Government has removed itself from the application process, making it easier for patients to obtain the medicine.
Medifarm director Adam Benjamin said the move would mean doctors would still need to apply to the Australian Government Therapeutic Goods Administration to prescribe medicinal cannabis but not to the state government as well, as had been the case.
“It’s not for a government to decide the clinical need for a drug,” he said.
Health Minister Steven Miles said repealing the Public Health (Medicinal Cannabis) Act 2016 would make it easier for patients and doctors to access medicinal cannabis which will be treated the same as other schedule 8 or schedule 4 drugs, though non-specialist medical practitioners will still require state-based approval for schedule 8 medicinal cannabis.
Dr Miles said the local medicinal cannabis industry while still in its infancy would help improve access and reduce costs for patients.
Mr Benjamin agreed local production would be more accessible with patients needing to overcome many hurdles to bring in imported products with only a limited number of countries producing the medicine and a smaller number having the same standards as Australia.
He said only Queensland and New South Wales had made the move to resolve themselves from the process and it couldn’t have come at a better time for Medifarm.
The plant will be tested every step of the way as it is turned into an extract, an oil, and made available through pharmacies by June or July, he said.
He said there were 5000 patients seeking medicinal cannabis in NSW alone and there were orders for it from across the country.
