Prescribers and road safety experts in Victoria have developed a guide to help doctors and patients navigate the complexities around driving and medicinal cannabis.
Information has been loaded onto the Transport Victoria website which sets out the current regulations and provides a breakdown of what doctors should consider – and what they should tell patients – before prescribing medicinal cannabis.
The guidance was drawn up by Road Safety Victoria and an “expert committee” before being reviewed and ratified by a panel of GPs who prescribe medicinal cannabis.
One of the doctors on the committee, Associate Professor Vicki Kotsirilos, told newsGP, the in-house news portal of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), the resources will provide valuable support for prescribers across Australia, not just Victoria, as they discuss treatment options with patients.
“The information and resources are an excellent guide for conversations with our patients about driving,” Kotsirilos said. “[They] support health professionals when deciding to prescribe medicinal cannabis, and if the patient chooses to drive.”
The resources include an 18-page “decision support tool” for health professionals, as well as a patient factsheet.
Kotsirilos said it was vital for prescribers to have conversations with patients about the driving regulations in the early stages of a consultation, and how THC impacts the body and their ability to drive.
“It is important we educate and well inform our patients about medicinal cannabis and how it impacts their driving,” she said.
While it remains an offence in Victoria for a driver to have any amount of THC in their system, magistrates now have the discretion to allow a medicinal cannabis prescription holder to retain their driving licence on condition they were unimpaired at the time of the THC detection and they were taking their medication as instructed by their doctor.
The new rules came into effect on March 1.
