Medicinal cannabis products

Current Commonwealth and State regulations are designed to ensure the supply of medicinal cannabis is safe, and to protect and help patients.

Health practitioners must have confidence that any substance they prescribe to help treat a patient is safe. Practitioners and their patients need to know that any medical product used for treatment has a predictable and reliable effect. Users of medicinal cannabis products deserve the same certainty.

Accessing a legal product

Medicinal cannabis use is only lawful when the cultivation, manufacture, prescribing and supply complies with all applicable Commonwealth and state or territory laws. Access to medicinal cannabis supply has continued to improve and the cost of legal products is reducing.

Access to Nabiximols (Sativex) and Epidyolex in Queensland

Sativex and Epidyolex are currently registered in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG). Sativex is registered for use in spasticity associated with Multiple Sclerosis (Australia). In some other countries it is used for the management of advanced cancer pain e.g. Canada.

Epidyolex is indicated for use as adjunctive therapy of seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) or Dravet syndrome (DS) for patients 2 years of age and older.

Epidyolex is also listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme for use as an adjunct therapy in the treatment of severe forms of epilepsy (Dravet syndrome).

In Queensland, all medical practitioners are able to prescribe Sativex or Epidyolex without requiring a separate approval from Queensland Health.

More information about medicinal cannabis products is available on the Office of Drug Control’s website. This website also provides contact details for sponsors of medicinal cannabis products.