Medicinal cannabis approvals under the Special Access Scheme fell in June, but the total for the first half of the year still outstripped 2021 by 18%.
According to the latest figures from the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s medicinal cannabis data dashboard, there were 9,646 SAS-B approvals last month, down from 11,669 in May.
However, the total for H1 2022 hit 60,289 compared to 51,148 in the previous corresponding period.
The number of Authorised Prescribers (APs) has not been published, but a spokesperson told Cannabiz that, as at June 30, 2022, there are 1,417 APs for ‘unapproved’ medicinal cannabis in Australia, up from just 263 in June 2021.
A new data dashboard specific to the AP data will be available by the end of August.
Oil remained consistent at 53% of approvals in June, while flower accounted for 39%. Meanwhile, 79% were for Schedule 8 medicine against 21% for Schedule 4.
Chronic pain and anxiety remain the most common indications medicinal cannabis was approved for, accounting for 46% and 31% respectively, followed by sleep disorder (6%), PTSD (3%) and cancer pain (2%).
Queensland remains the top state from which approvals originate, making up 58% of the market, followed by Victoria (22%), New South Wales (13%) and WA (5%).
