Medicinal use of cannabis in Australia: Background and information paper

In Australia, there are currently people using illicit cannabis for medicinal purposes. Potentially this means that possibly seriously ill patients are being exposed to the risks associated with engaging with an illicit market, including arrest and prosecution, and the resultant stress and worry.

Yet, despite continued media and government attention over the last few decades, the current state of the evidence, combined with the legal and regulatory difficulties, continue to prohibit any progress in addressing this issue.

To achieve this, there is a need to disentangle medical and socientific questions from legal and ideological ones in considering whether and how medicinal cannabis should be used in Australia.

This paper provides an overview of what is known about medicinal cannabis use in Australia, the current state of the scientific and medical evidence for its use, and problems with the current situation in Australia. The report then explores some responses.

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