This year, we commemorate 10 years of the legalisation of cannabis in Australia for medicinal and scientific purposes. On the 24th of February 2016, the federal government passed laws amending the Narcotic Drugs Act to allow the legal growing and sale of medicinal cannabis in Australia, and now the rapid growth of the medicinal cannabis market had sales projected to hit over $1 billion by the end of last year.
Australia, like many other countries, has a long and colourful history relating to the criminalisation and enforcement of cannabis use and cultivation. Changes to attitudes surrounding cannabis in the 1990s saw less draconian approaches to personal possession and use, alongside various polls suggesting increasing support from the public for legalisation. Throughout the 2000s we saw legalisation of industrial hemp, and in 2012, the TGA approved the first cannabinoid based medication; an oral spray called Sativex for the relief of muscle spasticity associated with MS.
In 2014, retired registered nurse Lucy Haslam and her late son, Daniel, founded what is now Australia’s primary medicinal cannabis advocacy body, United in Compassion (UIC). Daniel Haslam was a bowel cancer patient who achieved significant relief of his symptoms through the use of cannabis, and through his story and the founding of UIC, the issue of medicinal cannabis was propelled into the mainstream public awareness of Australians. The work of Lucy and Daniel Haslam through UIC was instrumental in achieving the federal legislative changes in 2016 that we commemorate and celebrate this year. UIC remains at the forefront of promoting education around the clinical uses of cannabis in addition to continuing to campaign for improved access to what many consider to be very important medication.
Since 2022, there has been a consistent and rapid increase in the sales of medicinal cannabis products, from around 1.68 million units to 6.59 million units in 2024, as reported by the Penington Institute. Currently, there are no shortages in clinics prescribing cannabis, and pharmacies willing to dispense prescriptions for medicinal cannabis products are not as hard to find as they were just 5 years ago. Numbers from 2025 have shown no exponential growth in medicinal cannabis sales for the first time since 2022, perhaps demonstrating a plateau in patient demand, or an inability of our current systems to facilitate access to other potential patients.
So I suppose, the question being asked now, is where to from here? No one can really say for sure. But what we do know is that medicinal cannabis has been legitimate medicine for enough people that word from the TGA is that it’s here to stay.
In fact, last year the TGA put out a call-out to all players in the Australian medicinal cannabis industry to submit their ideas for how to manage medicinal cannabis moving forward. The TGA is still sifting through all the submissions and it might take some time to see what direction they decide to take, but in the spirit of what UIC is all about, I would love to see an ongoing commitment to those values, particularly removing barriers to access.
One major barrier to access that we have seen some progress with (but quite frankly, not enough) are the driving laws. In most of Australia, it is still illegal to drive with any THC in your system. Now, to clarify, this is not about impairment; it is purely about whether you have THC in your system, and THC is a compound that tends to linger well past the time when effects have worn off.
This makes many people who rely on driving every day reluctant to try THC based products from fear of getting into trouble with the law. Just to put this in perspective, you could be under the influence of a variety of different legal medications that cause impairment and would not get into any trouble if drug tested by police. But you could get in trouble if you happened to have some medicinal cannabis the night before, even though you show no signs of impairment. I believe this discriminates against patients using medicinal cannabis and needs to be addressed if we want to increase access.
The other major barrier for access, which comes as no surprise, is cost. This one is tricky, and the issues are multi-faceted. Prices for medicinal cannabis consults and prescriptions have become a lot more affordable over the last couple of years, however, the decrease in pricing in the current market means the cost is elsewhere. Often free consultations are part of a vertically integrated supply model where the patient has no flexibility in where they get their medication, or any agency to make choices about their treatment. Cheaper medicinal cannabis products can sometimes mean reduced product quality. So, despite some costs coming down, clearly the current system is not equitable. Because cannabis is still unapproved by the TGA and is only available via the special access scheme, there are no protocols within the current system to allow for its subsidisation. Which is just another incentive to find a better way to manage medicinal cannabis in Australia.
Despite people like me in the industry often highlighting the flaws within the current system, the fact that we have had medicinal cannabis legalised for 10 years in Australia, and the number of lives that it has helped improve, is ultimately something to be proud of.
Cannabis has been an important part of human society for centuries, and while we have been slow to understand its benefits in the modern era, the work that has been done in the last decade proves that we are capable of radical change for the betterment of society. We have accomplished a lot, but as pointed out, there is still much to be done because true equity is not about everyone getting the same care, but about everyone being able to access the care they need.
