As of today, seriously ill patients in New South Wales who have “exhausted standard treatment options” can be prescribed medical cannabis products by their GP.
It’s part of the The Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Amendment Regulation 2016, and it’s obviously not a free-for-all – doctors need to get approval from NSW Health to prescribe cannabis products that are not already on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods, and it is clearly only something prescribed as a last resort.
But nonetheless, this a pathway for doctors to apply to prescribe cannabis meds that haven’t been previously approved, which is a big thing.
New South Wales has conducted three clinical trials for cannabis-based medicine. They have attempted to find the therapeutic value of such drugs in the treatment of children with severe epilepsy, terminally ill patients and patients suffering nausea as a result of chemotherapy.
“People who are seriously ill should be able to access these medicines if they are the most appropriate next step in their treatment,” Premier Mike Baird said on Sunday.
It’s a first step – and a pretty restrictive one, at that. But this is the first jurisdiction in the country willing to accept even a limited form of medicinal use of cannabis, and it’s an important move. Let’s see where it leads us.
Source: Daily Telegraph.
Photo: Getty Images.
