Medicinal cannabis prescriptions are soaring in Australia as awareness and understanding grow for this alternative treatment.

September 2021 saw another record high in the number of approvals for medicinal cannabis treatments through the Special Access Scheme (SAS) with 13,666 prescriptions – more than twice that of the same month in 2020.

Since medical cannabis was legalised in Australia, more than 170,000 prescriptions have been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), and today there are more than 430 authorised prescribers in Australia.

According to TGA data, the top four most common conditions for which medicinal cannabis is prescribed are:

1. Chronic pain

With more than 100,000 approvals since 2018, by far the most common reason for medicinal CBD prescriptions is to help with the management of chronic pain. Chronic pain may result from a number of conditions and can affect many aspects of people's lives.

In particular, medicinal cannabis has been found to be effective at treating neuropathic or nerve pain, which can be difficult to treat through other means. An analysis of studies by the TGA found that medicinal CBD products were more likely to achieve a 30% to 50% reduction in pain compared to a placebo.

As restrictions on medicinal cannabis use were only recently lifted, the evidence is still scarce for its therapeutic effectiveness, but limited clinical trials and anecdotal evidence have seen demand growing for this supplement as an alternative to conventional pain relief.

2. Anxiety

Accounting for more than 30,000 approvals since 2018 and counting, demand is also growing for medicinal cannabis as a therapeutic treatment to reduce anxiety.

A study by Washington State University found that using medical cannabis can significantly reduce anxiety, depression and stress in the short term. There have also been limited studies into its success at managing certain types of anxiety, such as social anxiety disorder (SAD).

Research is ongoing into the long-term benefits of medicinal CBD products at universities and psychiatric hospitals worldwide. At present, patients in Australia are required to have tried another prescription medication for anxiety before being considered for medicinal cannabis approval.

3. Cancer pain and symptom management

More than 7,000 medicinal CBD prescriptions have been approved in Australia since 2018 to help with pain and other symptoms related to cancer.

A number of studies have found that cannabis can be helpful for relieving cancer pain that may be resistant to other forms of pain relief. Medicinal cannabis can also reduce nausea and vomiting related to chemotherapy treatments.

Early tests into the role of CBD and other cannabinoids in slowing the growth or killing cancer cells have been promising, but at present, relying on medicinal CBD alone is not recommended.

4. Insomnia

More than 6,000 medicinal cannabis approvals have been to help treat insomnia or sleep deprivation since 2018, a condition that affects up to 60% of Australians.

Several studies have found that cannabis use can help to prevent insomnia and improve quality of sleep along with reductions in fatigue and stress, with researchers finding significant improvements compared to a placebo.

Find out more about medical cannabis in Australia

Barclay Pearce Capital's client Epsilon Healthcare (ASX:EPN) is a diversified global healthcare and pharmaceuticals company that owns a number of medicinal cannabis assets.

These assets include the Tetra Health clinic, the largest cannabis manufacturing facility in the Southern Hemisphere, and the Medimar Platform, an end-to-end eCommerce solution for cannabis and nutraceuticals.

Epsilon Healthcare also operates a turnkey cannabis cultivation solutions provider in Vancouver, Canada.

To keep up to date with their news and progress, and for more information about healthcare and pharmaceuticals investment as a whole, subscribe to the Epsilon Healthcare Chairman's List