Victorian loophole for legal pot use

[dropDAbong]

Hi. Spoke to da Doc about using pot for medicinal pain relief. He didnt know. Is there anyone in vic who has gone through mental health to get a GO smoke pass. Having trouble finding info. Thanks for a response. Vaporizer's ROCK ME.

[haze420mist]

What pain symptoms are you showing mate, IMO a doctor can't issue u a go smoke pass a lot of people think that Australia has medical cannabis like in America . Some GPs are starting to wake up and see the benefits of cannabis use over hundreds of deadly pills. This dose not mean they can get u a card to get cannabis they will merely suggest for you to get your hands on some especially chemo patients has happened to a family member.

 

I remember when I was young I blurted out that my dad was growing in the back shed, that night I was sat down in front of the olds, asked what I thought, told to keep it in the family, the excuse I was given was that dad uses it to treat his server migraines I believed till I developed .

 

When Australia chemo patients are in need of medication and severely I'll they are given pharmaceutical derivatives of the cannabis plant called Sativex, Marinol and couple others. Unfortunately you have to rely on ur own recourses to medicate.

 

Haze

[louise]

Hi. Spoke to da Doc about using pot for medicinal pain relief. He didnt know. Is there anyone in vic who has gone through mental health to get a GO smoke pass. Having trouble finding info. Thanks for a response. Vaporizer's ROCK ME.

There is no such thing as going through mental health in Victoria to get a "Go smoke pass"... I don't know who gave you this info... maybe they meant Victoria Canada, but there is no loophole allowing legal smoking in Victoria Australia.

[burner]

Couldn't find an answer without sounding rude or sarcastic, thanks for the above Louise..........

[GreenGoat]

Hi. Spoke to da Doc about using pot for medicinal pain relief. He didnt know. Is there anyone in vic who has gone through mental health to get a GO smoke pass. Having trouble finding info. Thanks for a response. Vaporizer's ROCK ME.

 

There is no medicinal cannabis available in Aus yet and even if there was you'd have a hard time trying to slip in though mental health, the docs are far more inclined to go something predictable for mental healthy and stability.

[louise]

Couldn't find an answer without sounding rude or sarcastic, thanks for the above Louise..........

No worries burner...

 

One possibility for cannabis based medicines is via Therapeutic Goods Administration... look up 'Access to unapproved therapeutic goods - Special Access Scheme'

[DoctorWho]

No worries burner...

 

One possibility for cannabis based medicines is via Therapeutic Goods Administration... look up 'Access to unapproved therapeutic goods - Special Access Scheme'

I remember reading about that route on the internet years ago actually asked my doctors about it.  The GP laughed and asked if I still wanted my prescription and the specialist I was seeing said "What? Hell no I'm not doing that" and he actually wanted me to consume cannabis over the pills I was on.  I told him it was kind of stupid how he recommends cannabis over the opiates but isn't willing to take even a baby step in the right direction to get me on the right medication and he looked me right in the eye and said I'm starting to sound like a junkie.  I replied with a junkie would be happy with the opiates and keep their mouth shut whereas I'm trying to free myself of them and said that I had looked into it, found the forms he'd need to fill out, etc. His reaction was to ask me to leave, tell me to never ask him for any drug ever again and then palm me off to different doctors when I was booked in for my monthly visit at the clinic he worked at.

 

Although that was around 7 years ago and in a different state there is no reason to think times have changed at all.  Doctors will never risk their careers over someone that wants cannabis regardless of how much benefit it can bring them.  All they'll do is recommend you get access to it and not say boo because the second you do you're labeled as an illicit drug user and that completely fucks you in every other aspect of the health system.  Its bullshit but until the laws change there is no point in even being honest with your doctors and telling them you use cannabis let alone trying to get them to sign off on official medicinal use.

[burner]

I only know of one person, in Vic, who had access. Where he got his cannabis from, I don't know, all I can say is he was a friends father, terminal cancer, and has been gone for the past fifteen years. Yes, I believe you can access cannabis legally, though the channels are not known to me, but I understand you have to be dying from terminal illness, in order to obtain said access.

Before I go, why would Mental Health consider prescribing something they have spent the last hundred plus years demonising as a cause of the issues they are trying to deal with? Woof woof at the wrong tree there, Bong dropper...........

[GreenGoat]

I'm currently awaiting an appointment with a doctor who has recently asked me to remain smoking cannabis, at least for the time being until further discussion.

If you like I'll try to actually raise the possible access that Louise has mentioned and report back, I cant promise anything but I'm willing to try as it would have mutual benefits to say the least if it worked.

 

No worries burner...
 
One possibility for cannabis based medicines is via Therapeutic Goods Administration... look up 'Access to unapproved therapeutic goods - Special Access Scheme'

[haze420mist]

How TGA balances these criteria

The following is a guide only. It does not cover all possibilities but may give the delegate and others a general guide as to how the complex issues impacting a decision may be balanced.

There is a hierarchy of evidence of efficacy (or performance) and safety of the product, a hierarchy of evidence based on the seriousness of the patient’s condition and a hierarchy of qualifications relating to the requesting doctor. There is, thus, a complex interaction of these hierarchies, which will affect the decision to be made.

The product hierarchy effectively differentiates between:

• Products which are not approved in Australia but approved in countries with a regulatory standard comparable to that in Australia (ie, USA, UK, Sweden, Canada, The Netherlands for medicines and USA, European Union and Canada for medical devices);

• Products which are not approved in Australia but approved in countries other than those with regulatory standards comparable to that in Australia;

• Products which are currently under evaluation within TGA;

• Products that are not approved anywhere and are still undergoing clinical trials.

These products can be further classified according to the types of evidence available. This can range from

- evidence from published randomised controlled trials [highest level of evidence]

- evidence from published non-randomised trials

- individual case reports,

- consensus opinion of specialist colleges and societies [lowest level of evidence].

The efficacy and safety data submitted in support of the application should be weighed against the seriousness of the condition. As a general rule, the less serious the clinical need, the higher the degree of evidence needed to support the use of the product. For example, a product that has been approved in a country with a regulatory system comparable to our own is likely to be approved for supply under the SAS for a condition for which it has been approved in those countries. On the other hand, if the only evidence available is that from published case reports, it is unlikely that use of the product would be approved for anything but the most serious (almost life-threatening) of conditions. In this case, the prescriber will also have to demonstrate that other conventional therapies are unlikely to control the condition (clinical justification).

With respect to the clinical justification for the use of the unapproved product, the extent to which the application should address the use of available approved therapies will depend on the seriousness of the patient's condition and the amount of information that is known about the product. As a general rule, the less serious the clinical need, the greater the requirement to demonstrate those available therapies are clinically unacceptable.

In circumstances where the product has been previously withdrawn from, or refused entry to, the Australian market because of safety concerns, it will be expected that all conventional therapy has been tried and failed, or has been accompanied by unacceptable adverse reactions. The clinical justification should address the risk/benefit balance of using the proposed therapy.

The delegate may be aware of information of which the applicant is not based on general knowledge or previous applications eg overseas status of a product. The delegate is responsible for undertaking a limited search for information but the process time of an application will be improved if the applicant supplies all relevant information about the patient and the product to be used in the initial application.

 

 

 

 

In the event that another product is evaluated by TGA and approved for treatment of an indication, the level of evidence required in support of an application to use an unapproved product instead of the new product for that indication is high. This is particularly so for products with the same active ingredient or with active ingredients in the same therapeutic class.

 

 

 

 

Medical devices that are only a variation of a previous model or duplicate of the intended performance of an already approved medical device would require a very high level of evidence for approval of an application.

The clinical justification should include discussion as to why the newly approved product is not acceptable for the treatment of the individual patient and this should be based on medical reasons and not on grounds of cost or convenience. This requirement is imposed in part because it is the TGA's responsibility to encourage at all times the availability of approved (fully evaluated) products. To do otherwise would remove the incentive for a sponsor to seek registration of the unapproved product or for other sponsors to seek registration of alternative products for treatment of the indication. If a medical practitioner has an interest in the continued, long-term supply of a particular product, he/she should strongly encourage the sponsor to seek registration of that product in Australia.

 

 

 

 

Like I mentioned before Marinol, Sativex, Nabilone and Canasol would be recommended before cannabis IMO. Also were are u going to get this supply deff no way u get it in Australia IMO.

 

 

 

 

Products Not Available in Australia

If the product is not available from an Australian sponsor, the requesting doctor will need to find an overseas source. The product will then need to be imported from that supplier. This can be done by the doctor, a pharmacist, hospital, by the patient (personal importation) or by a licensed importer.

When seeking to arrange importation of a product containing an unapproved medicinal substance, it is important to check whether the drug is controlled under Customs (Prohibited Import) Regulations 1956 (C(PI) Regulations). Medicines subject to Customs control cannot be imported without an import permit and/or permission. Further information about controlled substances may be accessed from the TGA website at the following URL: <http://www.tga.gov.au/consumers/import-export.htm>

These medicines fall into several areas:

• the medicines listed in Schedule 4 and regulated under Regulation 5 of the C(PI) Regulations.

These include medicines with the potential to cause dependence or which have a propensity for abuse, including narcotics, amphetamines and psychotropic substances. Further advice about procedures for importation should be sought from Treaties and Monitoring Unit, Office of Chemical Safety and Environmental Health, telephone (02) 6289 2686, fax (02) 6289 2500 or mail GPO Box 9848 Canberra ACT 2601;

• the medicines listed in Schedule 8 and regulated under Regulation 5H of the C(PI) Regulations.

Anabolic substances are included in this schedule. Further advice can be sought from Experimental Drugs Section, Office of Prescription Medicines TGA, telephone (02) 6232 8111, fax (02) 6232 8112 or mail PO Box 100 Woden ACT 2606.

• the medicines listed in Schedule 7A and regulated under Regulation 5G of the C(PI) Regulations.

This includes erythropoietin, darbepoietin alfa, growth hormones and gonadotrophins. These medicines cannot be imported for the purpose of medical treatment of athletes or persons associated with an athlete without an import permit. Other persons who are entering Australia as a passenger on a plane or ship and carrying the medicine with them are exempted from the need to obtain an import permit, provided the medicine was prescribed by a medical practitioner and the amount imported is consistent with that prescribed for the person receiving treatment.

Further advice can be sought from the Experimental Drugs Section, Office of Prescription Medicines, TGA, telephone (02) 6232 8111, fax (02) 6232 8112 or mail PO Box 100 Woden ACT.

• antibiotics, which are subject to control under Regulation 5A of the C(PI) Regulations. Further information can be sought from the Treaties and Monitoring Unit, Office of Chemical Safety and Environmental Health, telephone (02) 6289 2686, fax (02) 6289 2500 or mail GPO Box 9848 Canberra ACT 2601.

The C(PI) Regulations place a number of obligations on importers of controlled medicines. These include the requirement to ensure the medicines are stored securely, records are kept and presented for inspection and to use the medicine solely for medical purposes.

In deciding to grant an import permit for a controlled medicine the delegate at the TGA can request any information reasonably required and the permit can be refused if the information is not provided. In cases where the medicine is to be supplied under the Category A provisions, an import permit will generally only be given by TGA upon receipt of the completed “Category A Form Special Access Scheme”. In cases where approval has been granted under the Category B provisions, an import permit will be issued. This must be presented to Customs when the controlled medicine is imported. It is important to note that the import permit and the approval under Category B are separate and that both documents are required to ensure Customs clearance.

The importation of injections that contain material of human or animal origin (except insulin) is not permissible through personal importation. The importation of such products is contingent upon approval under Section 19 of the Act (ie Category B patients). It is also possible for a medical practitioner to import an injection containing material of human or animal origin based on a notification of use in a Category A patient. There is no need for an import permit to be issued in either case unless the injection contains a substance that is prohibited under the C(PI) Regulations. Further advice can be sought from Experimental Drugs Section, Office of Prescription Medicines TGA, telephone (02) 6232 8111, fax (02) 6232 8112 or mail PO Box 100 Woden ACT 2606.

Edited October 28, 2013 by haze420mist