Access to medicinal cannabis in Queensland just got a whole lot easier

Any registered medical practitioner in Queensland can now prescribe medicinal cannabis for any patient.

Authority to prescribe medicinal cannabis has been confined to a only a small crop of specialist doctors until legislation was amended three days ago.

What it means is any GP can prescribe medicinal cannabis to patients if they believe it is clinically appropriate and have obtained the required Commonwealth approval.

Previously to prescribe the drug, specialists had to be registered with Queensland Health and then apply through the national Theraputic Goods Administration (TGA) for each script.

Read more: GP calls for easier access to medicinal cannabis

Now the state-level requirement has been abolished, streamlining the process.

So, rather than waiting a week or 10-days for medication a TGA application could be completed within hours.

"The TGAs tend to come through in a day....even less that a day now," Des Harp, a Brisbane-based medicine compounding pharmacist, said.

One Brisbane pharmacy is already selling 40 to 50 products every week and these legislative changes are expected to result in that number rising.

Research continues to be conducted on the potential uses of medicinal cannabis and its effectiveness.

Dr Nick Yim, from the Queensland branch of the Australian Medical Association, said the step was overall "positive" for patients.

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But health authorities insist this isn't a green light for for an easy marijuana script.

Many doctors remain unconvinced it's the best treatment and advise trying all other avenues first.

"The patients need to undergo and have failed traditional therapy, which do have the evidence backing it," Dr Yim said.

Fybromyalgia sufferer Anne-Marie Newston has found medicinal cannabis to enhance her quality of life saying it saved her life.

"It's a process but it's achieveable and I'm evidence that it works," she said.

For more information about how patients can access medicinal cannabis in Queensland head here.