Exclusive: Of more than 1,000 medicinal cannabis products available, only two have been evaluated by the drug regulator

Doctors are commonly prescribing high-dose medicinal cannabis containing up to four times the concentration of THC tested in clinical trials, a review has found.

Researchers from Monash University evaluated the available evidence for the efficacy and safety of higher THC potency medicinal cannabis products, in line with those being prescribed in Australia. THC, or delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, is the main psychoactive ingredient of cannabis.

There is no upper limit for THC concentration allowed in medicinal cannabis products in Australia, with higher-dose products such as dried herb and concentrated extract, known as category 5 products, ranging from 13% to 88% THC.

Of more than 1,000 medicinal cannabis products available, only two have undergone pre-market evaluation by drugs regulator the Therapeutic Goods Administration for quality, safety and efficacy.

A co-author of the review, Prof Suzanne Nielsen from the Monash Addiction Research Centre, said she and her colleagues had reviewed studies that assessed how effective medicinal cannabis is for a range of conditions but found only products containing up to 22% THC had been tested.

“When we looked at the randomised control trial evidence, which is the strongest evidence that we have to see if a product works for a particular condition, we saw there is a real mismatch between the evidence we have to draw on and the products being prescribed and used” she said.

The findings have been published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Review.

Read more at 

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/jul/29/cannabis-prescription-australia-doctors