‘We have a duty of care’: Medicinal cannabis funding for veterans likely to be restricted, chief psychiatrist says

'We have concerns about the quality of treatment veterans are getting,' says Associate Professor Jonathan Lane.

The Department of Veterans’ Affairs will likely restrict the scope of its funding for medicinal cannabis amid growing concerns it is being prescribed inappropriately, the department’s chief psychiatrist says.

Associate Professor Jonathan Lane told AusDoc that officials were worried about rapidly increasing medicinal cannabis use among veterans, which the department funds for several conditions.

Under the Gold Card system, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) funds medicinal cannabis for chronic pain, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, palliative care, anorexia and wasting associated with chronic illness, and spasticity from neurological conditions.

It also funds the drug for refractory paediatric epilepsy, which is only likely to apply to cadets injured in training. 

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