A Guide to Medical Cannabis in Australia
While medicinal marijuana is legal in Australia, many doctors don’t know enough about it to prescribe. Studies show that a huge proportion of adult-use (recreational) cannabis consumers are self medicating. A common scenario is that those who started as adult-use consumers have transitioned and are experiencing the benefits of being medicinal patients.
On the flip side of this, there are many people thinking about medicinal cannabis, but don’t want to be perceived as stoners or ‘pot heads.’ The stigma and lack of education about cannabis prevent people from exploring if cannabis is right for them.
This guide will help you along your medical cannabis journey. The sections below are broken out in a recommended order to help you build your knowledge and understanding.
The Legalities of Cannabis
Articles
Cannabis Benefits & Side Effects
Articles
Medical Conditions: Treatment & Research
Articles
Accessing Medical Cannabis
Articles
Products, Cost & Support
Articles
The stigma surrounding cannabis
While cannabis (or marijuana) becomes more accepted world wide, Australians perceive their homeland to be far behind. ACT was the first place in Australia to decriminalise cannabis and there is already talk of the territory laws being overturned by the Commonwealth. Cannabis is still a taboo topic and often the opposing sides make poor arguments as to why cannabis should and shouldn’t be legal.
Shortly after ACT passed the new cannabis law, the Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said, “I don’t want to be sharing the road with a pothead.” Statements like these villianise cannabis and may stop people who might benefit from the plant from talking to their doctors about medicinal cannabis. The same statement could be made against alcohol and alcoholics, but drinking doesn’t receive this kind of press.
A guide on your cannabis journey
The point here is that if you’re interested in cannabis for medicinal purposes you should do everything you can to learn about the plant and its benefits and side effects. Cannabis, medical or otherwise, is changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the world with positive outcomes.
You should be comfortable talking to your friends and family about it and you should most certainly be comfortable talking to your doctor about it. It may sound crazy, but cannabis is safer than alcohol in many ways.
Yes, it’s still a drug so there are downsides and no, it will not cure every ailment you can think of, but you shouldn’t be afraid to supplement or substitute your current medical routine with something natural if it’s going to help you. This medical cannabis guide is here to help.
Where to from here?
Whether you’re a doctor or patient who wants to learn more about cannabis, this guide will get you started. The page is organised into sections or milestones on your journey. If you’re already a patient and you landed here, you may want to leave a product review.
If you’re new to cannabis then we recommend, at a minimum, skimming each article in this guide so that you know what questions you’ll be asked and any roadblocks that you may encounter.
Once you’ve read up and are actively pursuing medicinal cannabis, we encourage you to share your knowledge and would love to hear about your experiences with medicinal cannabis.
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