Overview

• AHPRA issued formal guidelines on July 8 requiring prescribers to establish therapeutic need, conduct thorough medical history assessments and define exit strategies before prescribing medicinal cannabis.
• The agency has disciplined 57 practitioners and launched investigations into another 60 for excessive or improper cannabis prescribing practices.
• ABC investigations earlier this year linked inappropriate prescribing to emergency department admissions for psychosis and at least one patient death.
• Vertically integrated telehealth clinics that both prescribe and dispense cannabis dominate the $500 million annual market, raising conflict-of-interest concerns.
• Most medicinal cannabis products are unapproved off-label medicines not assessed by the TGA for efficacy, quality or safety.