Connect
MJA
MJA

Medical cannabis: time for clear thinking

David G Penington
Med J Aust 2015; 202 (2): . || doi: 10.5694/mja14.01573
Published online: 2 February 2015

Australia is behind the times on the medical use of cannabis

The debate about the medical use of cannabis in Australia has become confused with the proposal for a formal clinical trial instead of proceeding to legislation in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Victoria. Debates about prohibition of cannabis have a long history,1 as has the proposal for medical cannabis in Australia.2 Politicians are nervous about being “soft on drugs”, especially before an election. The clinical trial proposed, if successful, presumes that cannabis would then be approved and regulated as a pharmaceutical substance.


  • University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC.


Correspondence: dgp@unimelb.edu.au

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

  • 1. Wodak A. The abject failure of drug prohibition. Aust N Z J Criminol 2014; 47: 190-201.
  • 2. Australian National Council on Drugs. Medicinal use of cannabis: background and information paper. http://www.ancd.org.au/images/PDF/Generalreports/Medicinal_Cannabis_Information_Paper.pdf (accessed Jan 2015).
  • 3. Nutt D, King LA, Saulsbury W, Blakemore C. Development of a rational scale to assess the harm of drugs of potential misuse. Lancet 2007; 369: 1047-1053.
  • 4. Hall W. What has research over the past two decades revealed about adverse health effects of recreational cannabis use? Addiction 2015; 110: 19-35.
  • 5. Silins E, Horwood LJ, Patton GC, et al. Young adult sequelae of adolescent cannabis use: an integrative analysis. Lancet Psychiatry 2014; 1: 286-293.
  • 6. Hill NH. Clearing the smoke: what do we know about adolescent cannabis use and schizophrenia? J Psychiatry Neurosci 2014; 39: 75-77.
  • 7. Moore THM, Zammit S, Lingford-Hughes A, et al. Cannabis use and risk of psychotic or affective mental health outcomes: a systematic review. Lancet 2007; 370: 319-328.
  • 8. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. World Drug Report 2011. Vienna: UNODC, 2011. http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/WDR2011/World_Drug_Report_2011_ebook.pdf (accessed Jan 2015).
  • 9. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 2010 National Drug Strategy household survey report. Canberra: AIHW, 2011. (AIHW Cat. No. PHE 145; Drug Statistics Series No. 25.) http://www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=10737421314 (accessed Jan 2015).
  • 10. Porter BE, Jacobson C Report of a parent survey of cannabidiol-enriched cannabis in pediatric treatment-resistant epilepsy. Epilepsy Behav 2013; 29: 574-577.
  • 11. Hughes CE, Stevens A. What can we learn from the Portuguese decriminalization of illicit drugs? Br J Criminol 2010; 50: 999-1022.
  • 12. Single E, Christie P, Ali R. The impact of cannabis decriminalisation in Australia and the United States. J Public Health Policy 2000; 21: 157-186.
  • 13. Degenhardt L, Chiu W-T, Sampson N, et al. Toward a global view of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and cocaine use: findings from the WHO world mental health surveys PLOS Med 2008; 5: e141.
  • 14. D'Souza DC, Perry E, MacDougal L, et al. The psychotometric effects of intravenous delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in healthy individuals: implications for psychosis. Neuropsychopharmacology 2004; 29: 1558-1572.
  • 15. Englund A, Morrison PD, Nottage J, et al. Cannabidiol inhibits THC-elicited paranoid symptoms and hippocampal-dependent memory impairment. J Psychopharmacol 2013; 27: 19-27.
  • 16. Mechoulam R, Peters M, Murillo-Rodriguez E, Hanus LO. Cannabidiol — recent advances. Chem Biodivers 2007; 4: 1678-1692.
  • 17. van Winkel R, Kahn RS, Linszel DH, et al Family-based analysis of genetic variation underlying psychosis-inducing effects of cannabis sibling analysis and proband follow-up. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2011; 68: 148-157.
  • 18. Adler JA, Colbert JA. Medical use of marijuana — polling results. N Engl J Med 2013; 368: 866-869.
  • 19. Bachhuber MA, Sloner B, Chinazo O, et al. Medical cannabis laws and opioid analgesic overdose deaths in the United States, 1999-2010. JAMA Intern Med 2014; 174: 1668-1673.
  • 20. GW Pharmaceuticals. GW Pharmaceuticals commences Phase 2/3 clinical trial of Epidiolex as a potential treatment for epilepsy in Dravet syndrome [press release]. 30 Oct 2014. http://www.gwpharm.com/GW%20Pharmaceuticals%20Commences%20Phase%2023%20Clinical%20Trial%20of%20Epidiolex%20as%20a%20Potential%20Treatment%20for%20Epilepsy%20in%20Dravet%20Syndrome.aspx (accessed Dec 2014).
  • 21. Medical marijuana needs brave course [editorial]. The Age (Melbourne) 2014; 31 Aug. http://www.theage.com.au/comment/the-age-editorial/medical-marijuana-needs-brave-course-20140830-3elvy.html (accessed Jan 2015).

Author

remove_circle_outline Delete Author
add_circle_outline Add Author

Comment
Do you have any competing interests to declare? *

I/we agree to assign copyright to the Medical Journal of Australia and agree to the Conditions of publication *
I/we agree to the Terms of use of the Medical Journal of Australia *
Email me when people comment on this article

Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.