It took so long to get medicinal cannabis into the mainstream. It was a very hard fight. It’s more effective and safer than conventional painkillers. Looks like somebody’s figured out how to screw it up.
Now there’s a new mess that you should expect to be global. The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) has some downright weird numbers that show how badly things are going off the rails.
Pain management is a very big thing in Australia affecting about 5% of the population and 20% of people over 45. Medicinal cannabis is accepted as being good for chronic pain.
There’s nothing new about pharmaceutical black markets, but there are many added dimensions to this problem.
The overall picture from AHPRA is:
Contracts for practitioners are based on the number of scripts prescribed.
Big numbers of prescriptions at Level 5 the strongest THC. High doses of THC could dangerously disorient people with mobility, neurological, and coordination issues.
Very small numbers of local practitioners writing disproportionate volumes of scripts. Dispensary of exceptional numbers of scripts by one pharmacist. The numbers of scripts don’t equate to the number of patients. Are these real patients or not? They can’t all be real sufferers.
These demographics don’t make a lot of sense in terms of demand and supply. Local markets aren’t big enough to the point of causing that sort of demand. Telehealth is a “minimal info” and fast-growing source of prescriptions taking a few minutes.
These products can get on the black market easily, like Ibuprofen, OxyContin, and so on in the past.
This situation helps nobody who actually needs medicinal cannabis. Chronic pain sufferers may eventually get shut out of the market simply because so much is being dispensed.
Making medicinal cannabis look like a racket is a huge own goal for healthcare. The image is far too negative and could produce restrictions that affect sufferers rather than anyone exploiting the system.
Healthcare is a big money sector. Everyone wants in. It looks like this is yet another job for organized crime at everyone else’s expense.
Add to this the obvious fact that AI is getting into healthcare as fast as any other big money sector. The degree of regulatory or any other sort of control of AI healthcare is highly questionable. How do you vet so many scripts?
AI could do that sort of regulation, but also add another dubious and expensive level of control that may or may not work. Corrupt AI would make it worse.
Medicinal cannabis is too important to ignore these issues. Someone needs to protect the people who need it.
_________________________________________________________
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.
