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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 473 asked in the Legislative Council on 11 August 2021 by Hon Dr Brian Walker

Parliament: 41 Session: 1

MEDICAL CANNABIS — MEDICAL PRACTITIONER TRAINING

473. Hon Dr BRIAN WALKER to the minister representing the Minister for Health:

I refer the minister to the Kalgoorlie Miner of 9 August 2021, in particular the article titled ''Survey finds reluctance from GPs on cannabis''. What the national poll actually found was doctors citing cost and a lack of knowledge on their own part as the main reasons for not prescribing medicinal cannabis. Acknowledging that cost is intrinsically linked to the pharmaceutical benefits scheme and our federal colleagues, I ask the following.

(1) What, if anything, is the McGowan government in general, and the Department of Health in particular, doing to educate GPs on the availability and application of medicinal cannabis?

(2) Will the minister push for more formalised training on medicinal cannabis to be made available to doctors both during their university training and beyond?

Hon STEPHEN DAWSON replied:

I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question. The following answer is provided on behalf of the Minister for Health.

(1) Comprehensive information on access to medicinal cannabis products is published by the national medicines regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration. This includes detailed evidence-based clinical guidelines, information and resources for prescribing doctors. The Western Australian Department of Health assisted in the development of these guidelines. The national prescribing service also has a range of resources for patients and health practitioners. The DOH endorses and provides links to these resources in online materials related to medicinal cannabis.

(2) No. The inclusion and coverage of specific aspects of therapeutic management of diseases in accredited university training qualifications for registered health practitioners is a matter for the respective individual education institutions to consider.