CBD restriction change will have no immediate effect

Today the Compound Cannabidiol or CBD is rescheduled and is supposedly free for GPs to
prescribe. MCANZ is aware of several products that may be available in future, none of which
are pharmaceutical grade.

“MCANZ wants to remind politicians that this change heralds no immediate positive effect,
particularly for Treatment refractory Epilepsy, the condition most associated with CBD.”

“There is a product that already qualifies, from the Canadian company Tilray, however, the
doses required for Paediatric Epilepsy mean it could cost in excess of 100k per anum for a
teenager”
.
“Our peers in Australia, have had the State Governments help facilitate compassionate
supply and funding the product for some patients, it's telling that the current govt refuses to
follow their example, and it has been left to MCANZ to advocate for alternative Cannabis
products in the interim with no hope of subsidy, even for children whose epilepsy hasn’t
responded adequately to multiple brain Surgeries.” Says MCANZ Coordinator Shane Le Brun