❓ Hon Dr Brian Walker questions the WA Minister for Health about the delayed implementation of Recommendation 1 from the Select Committee into Cannabis and Hemp, which aimed to remove the requirement for healthcare professionals to be authorised to prescribe cannabis-based Schedule 8 products. The government's response indicates the amendment was implemented in December 2024.
AnsweredQoN 275Legislative Council
Asked
5 May 2026
Member
Portfolio
parliamentary secretary representing Minister for Health
QuestionView source ↗
Cannabis-based products—Healthcare professional
authorisation
275. Hon Dr Brian Walker to the parliamentary secretary
representing Minister for Health:
I refer the minister
to the government's response to the recommendations handed down by the Select
Committee into Cannabis and Hemp, said responses having been tabled on 29 August
2023 as we draw close to the three-year anniversary.
(1) What progress has been made in regard
to the implementation of recommendation 1, which I note was supported by
the government, and called for the Western Australian Government to amend the
Medicine and Poisons Regulations 2016 to remove the requirement for healthcare
professionals to be authorised to prescribe or supply cannabis-based schedule 8
products for adult non-dependent patients?
(2) Given that the Department of Health
had already undertaken what the government called "significant regulatory
consultation" and that work had "already commenced towards enabling
these proposed regulation changes", what, if anything, is delaying their
implementation almost three years later, and what timeframe is the government currently
working towards in this regard?
authorisation
275. Hon Dr Brian Walker to the parliamentary secretary
representing Minister for Health:
I refer the minister
to the government's response to the recommendations handed down by the Select
Committee into Cannabis and Hemp, said responses having been tabled on 29 August
2023 as we draw close to the three-year anniversary.
(1) What progress has been made in regard
to the implementation of recommendation 1, which I note was supported by
the government, and called for the Western Australian Government to amend the
Medicine and Poisons Regulations 2016 to remove the requirement for healthcare
professionals to be authorised to prescribe or supply cannabis-based schedule 8
products for adult non-dependent patients?
(2) Given that the Department of Health
had already undertaken what the government called "significant regulatory
consultation" and that work had "already commenced towards enabling
these proposed regulation changes", what, if anything, is delaying their
implementation almost three years later, and what timeframe is the government currently
working towards in this regard?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the honourable
member for some notice of the question.
(1)–(2) In December 2024, the government
implemented recommendation 1 by amending existing regulations that
required a health professional to be authorised to prescribe cannabis-based
products to each individual patient.
member for some notice of the question.
(1)–(2) In December 2024, the government
implemented recommendation 1 by amending existing regulations that
required a health professional to be authorised to prescribe cannabis-based
products to each individual patient.
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