Regulation of 'unaffordable' medicinal cannabis forcing patients to turn to black market for cheaper options

Every morning, Brent Arcuri uses a glass pipette to carefully drop a small dose of cannabis oil under his tongue.Patients say the way the Federal Government regulates medicinal cannabis has made it prohibitively expensiveThere is currently no subsidy for medicinal cannabis under the PBS, but the TGA expects this may change

The 20-year-old from the Gold Coast suffers from Crohn's Disease, an inflammation of the bowel that makes digesting any food a painful chore."It can cause me to be very fatigued all the time." After years of trialling various medications with limited success, a friend suggested he try medicinal cannabis.Seeking cannabis oil for medical purposes has been legal since 2016 when federal laws were changed to allow doctors to prescribe cannabis products to patients suffering an array of conditions.

"It's only after you get accepted, they tell you the associated costs," said Mr Arcuri, who was initially paying around $600 a month for medicinal cannabis. He soon discovered he could buy cannabis oil for roughly a quarter that price on the black market, importing it from a US-based website.

No surprises here - did you really think it would be any different from every other drug that's certified fit? It's the PBS that makes drugs affordable, not societal pressure.

Just legalise and tax. It'll bring in loads of cash..... Maybe fix some of that deficit

Yes.this needs addressed. People were taken off meds their insurance paid for and tricked into using cannabis for medicinal purposes ,yet not covering it. Disappointed with the Gov.

The situation with medical cannabis in AU gives the lie to lnp claims they want to cut red tape for business. Or the lnp religious hard right are up to their elbows in forcing the rest of us to abide by their beliefs. Legalize Standardize Tax Treat auspol pillTesting

This is the reason why government should but out of the market!

legalise it NOW in Australia ffs

Look at countries where it's legal today. Cannabis street dealing and organised crime is still rife because dealers don't have to charge the tax and can now openly carry the product

So, Fleta grows the cannabis for legally prescribed medicinal cannabis Australian patients. Wonder how to get a supply contract like that?

Amazing product. Insanely overpriced. The answer would be to legalise marijuana. It has proven health benefits, and is an amazing pain killer. I don’t know, I’m just your average pleb who watched her dad die slowly over 6 years. I only have first hand experience.

Time to drag Australia into the modern world and legalise cannabis. Regulate and tax - like alcohol.

We just paid $900 4 150ml of therapeutic grade, transparent active ingredient ratios oil 4 my son. Looked black market & after chats with specialists came 2 understand that lack of regulation of black market product & ability 2 titrate dose 2 outcome was a roll of dice. So hard

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