Medical cannabis: time for clear thinking

Penington, David G

doi:10.5694/mja14.01573

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.

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