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The Rise and Rise of Medicinal Cannabis, What Now? Medicinal Cannabis Prescribing in Australia 2017–2022

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  • Christine Mary Hallinan

    (Department of General Practice, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
    Health and Biomedical Research Information Technology Unit (HaBIC R2), Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Level 2, 780 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia)

  • Yvonne Ann Bonomo

    (Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
    Department of Addiction Medicine, St. Vincent’s Hospital, Fitzroy, VIC 3065, Australia)

Abstract

Medicinal cannabis was legalised in Australia in November 2016. By August 2022, there were 5284 specialist physician and general practitioner (GP) prescribers who submitted Special Access Scheme (SAS) applications to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for the provision of medicinal cannabis prescriptions their patients. In this article we examine the impact of the delivery of publicly available clinical guidance documents, provision of education to prescribers, establishment of the TGA online portal, and launching of cannabis clinics on the number of applications approved by the TGA over time. We considered these findings in the context of the need to align the interventions facilitating the prescribing of medicinal cannabis with the establishment of processes to enable the systematic monitoring of patient outcomes. The cumulative number of medicinal cannabis Special Access Scheme-B (SAS-B) prescription approvals from January 2017 to June 2022 was 258,926. SAS-B approvals increased at an average rate of 208.55% p < 0.000, (95% CI 187.25–229.85) per month. Conclusion: There has been a rapid growth in prescribing since the legalisation of medicinal cannabis in Australia and this expansion has not been accompanied by parallel processes for the monitoring of medicinal cannabis. The capture of more highly granulated data, as found in the electronic medical record (EMR), patient smartphone applications, and social media provide an opportunity to monitor medicinal cannabis effectiveness and safety across multiple prescribing indications.

Suggested Citation

  • Christine Mary Hallinan & Yvonne Ann Bonomo, 2022. "The Rise and Rise of Medicinal Cannabis, What Now? Medicinal Cannabis Prescribing in Australia 2017–2022," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-7, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:16:p:9853-:d:884707
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Carrie E. Pierce & Sieta T. Vries & Stephanie Bodin-Parssinen & Linda Härmark & Phil Tregunno & David J. Lewis & Simon Maskell & Raphael Eemeren & Alicia Ptaszynska-Neophytou & Victoria Newbould & Nab, 2019. "Recommendations on the Use of Mobile Applications for the Collection and Communication of Pharmaceutical Product Safety Information: Lessons from IMI WEB-RADR," Drug Safety, Springer, vol. 42(4), pages 477-489, April.
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