Medicinal cannabis
David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan) (17:36): (129) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Health and relates to medicinal cannabis accessibility. As the minister is aware, medicinal cannabis products must be prescribed by a doctor and can provide life-changing relief for people suffering severe muscle spasms or severe pain resulting from multiple sclerosis; for people with severe pain, nausea, vomiting or wasting arising from cancer or HIV/AIDS; for people suffering from severe seizures resulting from epileptic conditions; and for people with severe chronic pain and a range of other serious health conditions. Medicinal cannabis products can be accessed only via prescription with Commonwealth and/or state approvals, but as medicinal cannabis products are not currently subsidised by the pharmaceutical benefits scheme the cost can be hugely prohibitive for some patients, varying substantially between $500 and $1000 per patient per week depending on the nature of the condition being treated, the particular product required and the prescribed dose. Where the medical condition being treated renders a person unable to work, the significant cost I have just highlighted means that patients simply cannot access the medication they need to function. The action I seek is that the minister consider introducing a low-income medicinal cannabis subsidy for the most vulnerable medicinal cannabis patients in the state.