New @peningtoninstitute.bsky.social report in today's @theheraldsun.bsky.social on the economic lunacy that is cannabis prohibition. #SpringSt

- expand access to needle and syringe programs, particularly in rural/regional areas
- expand eligibility for drug diversion programs
- train and equip police to carry naloxone

Drug Summit report: www.health.nsw.gov.au/aod/summit/D...

NSW Drug Summit recommends the government:

- legislate a medical defence for medicinal cannabis drivers
- enable more than one safe injecting room to operate in the state
- expand access to pharmacotherapies and increase the number of pharmacotherapy prescribers

Exploring Associations between Cannabis Prices, Stores, and Usage after Recreational Legalization Abstract. Introduction: Canada legalized recreational cannabis in October 2018, but commercial retailing took time to develop. This study first explored how self-reported cannabis use prevalence, dail...

Canada’s legal cannabis shops expanded 13-fold & prices fell 28% during 2019-2023.

My new study checked if those big retail changes were related to usage changes, i.e., after 2018’s initial legalization impact had already passed. 1/6

#EconSky #EpiSky @brocku.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1159/0005...

Now, just over a year later, CDA Clinics QLD has gone into administration and the case against the company may be dismissed. The medicinal cannabis industry and the Australian community would have been much better off if the TGA had acted faster and more decisively.

TGA legal action against CDA Clinics Qld hits buffers as Vitura places subsidiary in liquidation Vitura Health has placed CDA Clinics Qld into liquidation in a move that could force the TGA to drop its legal action against the subsidiary.

The alleged offences committed by CDA Clinics QLD and Dr Ben Jansen occurred in April 2021. It took the TGA 2.5 years to commence legal action against them.

www.cannabiz.com.au/tga-legal-ac...

Excellent article by Andrew Proudfoot, well worth a read.

Defending the role of cannabis as a public and community good: the call to action in 2025 After 2024 ended with calls for medicinal cannabis to be removed from the Special Access Scheme, the industry must fight back in 2025.

There is a double-standard applied to assessing the evidence for medicinal cannabis being beneficial or harmful. Evidence of benefit requires robust, comprehensive clinical trials, while evidence of harms requires only anecdotes.

www.cannabiz.com.au/defending-th...

Cannabis in Australia 2024 - Penington Institute The third report in our Cannabis in Australia series reveals the latest data and insights on both medicinal and personal use cannabis in Australia.

🔗Download now to get the full picture of the current state of cannabis in Australia: www.penington.org.au/cannabis-in-...

At the same time, 42.3% of Australians aged 18+ say they have used cannabis, 80% believe using cannabis should not be a criminal offence, net approval for regular cannabis use has continued to increase, and 54% of Victorians support a regulated adult use cannabis access model.

That growth is being driven primarily by access to dried flower products, with the market share of oral liquid products declining from 30% of units sold in 2022 H2, to 15% in 2024 H1.

Australia's medicinal cannabis market is booming - from January to June 2024, over 2.8 million units of prescribed medicinal cannabis were sold to patients, equating to roughly $400m+ in estimated revenue. At the current growth trajectory, annual sales could reach $1b this year.

🔹A significant upsurge in the Australian medicinal cannabis market.
🔹An increase in the number of Australians who say they have used cannabis in their lifetime.
🔹The size of Australia's illicit cannabis market, estimated to be $5 billion a year.

The third report in Penington Institute's Cannabis in Australia series is out now – and it reveals the changing public attitudes towards both medicinal and personal use cannabis in Australia.

The 2024 report outlines the latest data, trends and insights, including: