The number of approved medicinal cannabis prescriptions climbed to 9,320 in August, 5% more than July but 13% fewer than the same month last year.
It took the number of SAS-B approvals in the first eight months of 2022 to 78,500, an increase of 8% on the same period in 2021.
Oil accounted for 53% of prescriptions in August, and flower 35%, largely in line with recent trends.
The month saw doctors prescribe 7,580 schedule 4 medicines, representing 81% of the market, with schedule 4 making up the balance.
There were 930 prescribers, up from July’s 888, but down from 999 in August 2021.
Authorised prescriber numbers had not been updated at time of publication, with 1,307 registered at the end of July, a rise of 61 on the previous month.
Chronic pain was again the major condition for which cannabis was prescribed, accounting for 4,430 prescriptions, followed by anxiety (2,660), sleep disorder (567), PTSD (233) and cancer pain and symptom management (171).
Just over 5,700 prescriptions were for men, and 3,700 for women.
In a familiar pattern, Queensland saw the largest number of prescriptions at 4,640 – representing 50% of the total – followed by Victoria with 2,820 (30%) and NSW on 1,170 (12.5%).
