Medical board chair’s message to medicinal cannabis doctors: ‘Patient demand is not an indication’ 

Dr Susan O'Dwyer said she was especially concerned about young, inexperienced doctors writing off-label medicinal cannabis scripts.
Medical Board of Australia chair Dr Susan O'Dwyer.
Medical Board of Australia chair Dr Susan O’Dwyer.

Doctors prescribing medicinal cannabis are being urged to think about differential diagnoses, monitoring and exit plans after revelations that 441,000 patients started high-THC cannabis over a six-month period. 

The growing concerns over medicinal cannabis prescribing, especially through short telehealth consultations, follow the release of new figures, including that one doctor apparently wrote more than 17,000 high-THC cannabis scripts, again in just six months.