Australians are expected to spend an estimated $1 billion on medical cannabis this year as use of the drug skyrockets.
Exclusive data has revealed reliance has quadrupled in just two years while illicit marijuana use is climbing.
Victorian resident Michael Perman used to smoke illicit marijuana.
“I was smoking cannabis at the time to treat chronic pain,” Perman said
When medical marijuana was legalised he said it transformed his life.
“When I was prescribed to the oxycodone, you lived in a perpetual fog, which is where cannabis, I found extremely useful in that it allowed me to gain clarity,” Perman said.
The Pennington Institute’s Cannabis in Australia report has revealed spending has skyrocketed from $230 million two years ago to a predicted $1 billion by the end of this year.
The spending correlates with usage, which jumped from just 3.9 per cent of survey respondents in 2019 to almost 30 per cent admitting they use prescription marijuana.
“It’s used in an incredibly diverse range of conditions and obviously it’s doctors that are making those decisions,” Penington Institute CEO John Ryan said.
The data was released on the day the Senate voted down a bill to legalise the drug.
Labor and the Coalition opposed it amid crime, public and mental health concerns.
Greens senator David Shoebridge argued “millions of Australians have been calling for this reform for decades”.
Australia spends more than $2 billion a year on law enforcement over the drug, but in 2019 domestic and border seizures amounted to less than 3 per cent of the 441 tonnes of cannabis Australians were estimated to consume.
The trend towards a less punitive approach to cannabis use is highlighted in Victoria where the most recent data shows a majority of Victorians support a regulated adult cannabis-use model.
About 66 per cent supported drug education for young people rather than punishment, while just 15 per cent had the opposing view.
The new data fuels the fight to legalise the drug for personal use.
“I think if we learn from our mistakes in relation to tobacco, learn from our mistakes in relation to alcohol, we could actually have a regulated adult use market in Australia,” Ryan said.
