❓ The WA government confirms medicinal cannabis prescribing is fully implemented and regulated like other prescription medicines, leading to a steady increase in patient access, with 680 authorisations issued by June 2019.
AnsweredQoN 2240Legislative Council
Asked
26 June 2019
Member
Portfolio
Deputy Premier; Minister for Health; Mental Health
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to page 269 in the 2019-20 State Budget, delivering on government priorities and election commitments, paragraph 5, prescribing medicinal cannabis, and I ask: (a) what has the Government done in this regard; and (b) has this seen a corresponding uptake in numbers of people being able to access prescribed medicinal cannabis as appropriate?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
21 August 2019
Responded by
Parliamentary Secretary representing the Deputy Premier; Minister for Health; Mental Health
Response time
9 days
I am advised:
(a) Prescribing of medicinal cannabis is fully implemented in Western Australia (WA).
Medicinal cannabis is regulated in the same manner as other prescription medicines. All medical practitioners in WA are eligible to prescribe medicinal cannabis products and patients can have their prescription dispensed at any pharmacy.
Prescribing is only one aspect of making medicinal cannabis available to Western Australians. The regulatory scheme administered by WA Health has resulted in:
WA Health has also worked with the Commonwealth Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to:
(b) Yes.
The first prescribing authorisation for medicinal cannabis was issued by WA Health in May 2017, and since then the number of patients being prescribed medicinal cannabis has steadily increased. The total number of authorisations issued (to end of June 2019), is 680.
During the first six months of 2019, the average number of authorisations per month was 66, with a high of 86 authorisations in May 2019.
(a) Prescribing of medicinal cannabis is fully implemented in Western Australia (WA).
Medicinal cannabis is regulated in the same manner as other prescription medicines. All medical practitioners in WA are eligible to prescribe medicinal cannabis products and patients can have their prescription dispensed at any pharmacy.
Prescribing is only one aspect of making medicinal cannabis available to Western Australians. The regulatory scheme administered by WA Health has resulted in:
WA Health has also worked with the Commonwealth Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to:
(b) Yes.
The first prescribing authorisation for medicinal cannabis was issued by WA Health in May 2017, and since then the number of patients being prescribed medicinal cannabis has steadily increased. The total number of authorisations issued (to end of June 2019), is 680.
During the first six months of 2019, the average number of authorisations per month was 66, with a high of 86 authorisations in May 2019.
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