Cannabis is the COVID-19 drug of choice in Australia after alcohol. Self-reported usage rates have soared and medicinal cannabis approvals are at record rates, increasing by almost 40% since telehealth was implemented in April.
Australians are turning to marijuana during the pandemic for prescribed medication, self-medication, and as an alternative to other substances.
Did telehealth cause a cannabis boom?
In July last year the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved 2207 medicinal cannabis applications. By July this year that had shot up to 5564 — a 60% increase.
Between April and July — when telehealth was widely implemented — approvals shot up by 39%. More than 56,000 applications have been approved — 77.6% are to treat chronic pain.
But this growth doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with telehealth, cannabis consultant and industry expert Rhys Cohen told Crikey.
“It’s a real trend that would have happened regardless of other factors,” he said. “There’s always been a lot of pent-up demand for these products and doctors are becoming more and more educated about their use.”
A doctor needs approval from the TGA to prescribe cannabis. Patients often have to be reapproved every three to six months so approval rates grow exponentially.
Unlike other drugs, Australia’s medicinal cannabis supply chain has been largely unaffected by the pandemic. Most is imported from Canada and the European Union.
“There’s been an increase in available clinics and prices have continued to decline over the years,” Cohen said.
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Cannabis as the cure?
For those who haven’t been prescribed cannabis, it’s still being used as a potential cure for ailments (and boredom).
One study found that since March 57% of survey respondents reported an increase in their cannabis use. It is the second-most commonly used drug after alcohol since COVID-19 restrictions were implemented and is the most common drug of choice.
One reason for the increase is for self-medication, addiction medicine specialist and Sydney University professor Nick Lintzeris said.
“We’re seeing an increase [in] mental health issues during the pandemic, as well as a reduction of things that help people with chronic pain — physiotherapy rehabilitation groups, exercise and acupuncture as examples,” he said.
Despite claims that marijuana kills coronavirus (it does not), most people self-medicating with marijuana do so for anxiety, back pain, depression and problems with sleeping.
There are still significant barriers to accessing medicinal cannabis — there’s even an inquiry into them. Just one in 30 cannabis patients — people who report using cannabis for medicinal purposes — use it legally.
Users are making the switch
Drug users have turned to cannabis and away from party drugs including MDMA and cocaine. Their use has decreased since COVID-19 restrictions were implemented.
“People use drugs for a reason, and they use them for the effect they’re going to produce,” Lintzeris said. “Certain drugs are designed for certain things.”
And getting other drugs is harder: supply chains have been disrupted because of travel restrictions and increased border security, and prices have increased.
Drug users moving away from other drugs to cannabis could save Australia a lot of money in the long run: cannabis use costs Australia $4.5 billion a year, and the misuse of opioids costs $15.7 billion a year.
From 2015 to 2016, opioids caused 2200 deaths. Cannabis caused 23 deaths in the same period, most of which were traffic accidents.
Australians’ attitudes towards cannabis have been changing too — more people approve of adults using it for personal use, and 85% approve of its use in medical settings.
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Amber, if you’re citing the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre figures I think you’ll find that cannabis contributed to the 2015-16 deaths from cars, suicide, etcetera, not actually caused them. Given that detection of the mere presence of cannabis in the blood is far easier than estimating the actual amount that causes poor reactions or reasoning skills, the role of cannabis in contributing to deaths and injury may be overestimated.
That being said, anyone who gets wasted and drives is a menace to themselves and others. But we seriously need studies to find out how much cannabis it takes to inhibit motor skills, and how to accurately test for it.
Have been saying the same thing about the current cannabis roadside test for years. Unlike alcohol breath/blood tests, it doesn’t test for the amount of the active ingredient currently in your system, but rather it tests the amount of cannabis residue in your system, which can have been there for days and has zero current effect on your driving ability. It’s surprising how few police even understand the difference.
Given the generally relaxed attitude of Australians and Kiwis towards cannabis use, it will be interesting to see the result of the referendum on legalisation taking place in NZ at the same time as their upcoming General Election on October 17. In particular, would a YES vote encourage enough people to push for a similar referendum here, especially given that if the Kiwis do vote YES they will join Canada and 11 US States in bringing about legalisation?
I have been wondering what has happened to regular users of hard drugs during this crisis. Supply is difficult, and the users cannot all be in rehab to kick their habit. I also wonder about erratic behaviour, even psychotic episodes happening. I thought when reading of some driver going to some place so distant from home, that he/she was on a drug run (buying or selling). Have these people been tested for covid, and if positive (have the virus) how can they remain in isolation for 14 days? I know in my regional town, areas where drug users vaguely congregated. I’m just wondering how they cope with lock down. Drugs must still be coming in.
Canada legalised cannabis in October 2018. The lack of a good test of cannabis impairment is a problem, and many worried about impaired driving increasing. There was extensive training of traffic police and they have been monitoring impaired driving closely. There has not been evidence of impaired driving increasing and there has been no related increase in traffic accidents.
The main problem has been establishing, scaling up and pricing systems for legal distribution and sales of cannabis, which has meant that illegal supply and sales continue. However, those problems seem to being overcome gradually.
It continues to sadden me that almost all cannabis articles assume that it is smoked which, given what we know about deleterious effects of inhaling the products of burning cellulose – bushfire haze anyone? – is dumb.
It is a relatively recent occurrence (since the introduction of tobacco in the ME & India) and in the West a function of the price due to prohiition.
Prior to that the age old method of consumption was eating – majhoum (a sweet paste or confectionery in the ME) and in India drunk as bhang, a diary mix best known to hippies as lassi.
The NSW Police, at least – one assumes other states also – are fully aware that detection of trace amounts does not relate to imppairment.
David Shoebridge has obtained the SOP under FoI which states this quite clearly.
As Minister David Elliot said about this point “It’s still illegal!”.
BTW, the LD50 dose has been guestimated – it is 100gms of hashish for each kilo of body weight, shaped into a pointed form and dropped on subject’s head from a height least 50mts.
With you Izzy. Quite looking forward to legalisation and methods of intake other than burning. Your LD50 comment is intriguing, haven’t heard of it. At 77kgs that would mean 7.7 kgs of hashish for me, which would probably see me happily through the next 20 years or so!
On the matter of driving impairment, comprehensive testing undertaken in the mid80s by Sydney Uni found that stoned drivers were far safer on the roads than drunks because they were fully aware of their impairment and drove accordingly, more slowly and carefully.
Drunk drivers are more or less the exact opposite, especially with risks & speeding.
Again Izzy, yes, some good studies done here and overseas all replicating the same result, showing impairment led to safer driving, the opposite of alcohol. And why do you think those studies get so little follow up funding? Is it because it’s a statement akin to studies showing the sun rising the next day, or is it because the results don’t coincide with the wowser and the police state viewpoints.
Many people expressing views about how lockdowns are signs of an authoritarian government, but on social issues like drugs we have always been an authoritarian society, often worried that someone, somewhere, may be having a good time.