The report reveals….
By May, no health professional had applied to prescribe the drug, despite it being made legal in November.
The Department of Health confirmed this week it has granted permission to three doctors to prescribe cannabinoid-based drugs, and is in the process of assessing two more applications.
It would not say whether the doctors who have been granted permission are working within a public hospital, citing privacy concerns.
Advocates say the process of obtaining the medicinal cannabis drugs legally in WA remain overly bureaucratic, with doctors needing approvals from both the Therapeutic Goods Association and the Health Department.
Perth mother Joelle Neville has long been pushing for greater use of medicinal cannabis in the state, and is in the process of trying access cannabis-based medicine to treat her 11-year-old daughter Ava’s epileptic seizures
She treats her daughter with cannabinoid medicinal products obtained from the US, but is pushing to get a local prescription.
Ms Neville said some doctors seemed reluctant to try to prescribe the drug.
“There are multiple layers to that I’m guessing, there’s still a level of ignorance out there, about the efficacy of medical cannabis,” she said.
Ms Neville said she was concerned those who would benefit from medicinal cannabis would be forced onto the black market, unless the products were easier to obtain.
She also said her supply of cannabinoid-based products obtained in the US was running out.
Full report at…….. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-07/families-struggling-to-access-to-medicinal-cannabis/8685712?pfmredir=sm
