Industry leaders have spoken of the “high human cost” of limiting access to medicinal cannabis as they called for a “balanced and proportionate” approach in tackling concerns surrounding the sector.
Not only would curtailing legal access rob patients of potentially life-changing medication, experts warned it would drive many to the illicit market, exposing them to the dubious and unknown quality of street-corner cannabis.
University of Sydney professor Nick Lintzeris said heavy-handed reform would also disincentivise illicit cannabis users from moving across to legal medical channels and the broader healthcare benefits that provides, a trend he described as one of the “extraordinary successes” of medicinal cannabis legalisation.
The comments came during the second episode of Cannabiz in Conversation, a content series produced by Cannabiz and streaming platform Ticker, in partnership with Medicinal Cannabis Industry Australia (MCIA) and the Australian Medicinal Cannabis Association (AMCA).
The series comes as regulators continue to consider regulatory reforms following a consultation in late 2025.
AMCA chair Dr Teresa Nicoletti acknowledged the need for reform and reiterated the industry’s desire to work in partnership with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).
But while supporting the need for fresh regulations, she said it was important to recognise the many thousands of patients who have benefited from medicinal cannabis.
“Any regulatory reforms must consider, foremost, public health and safety and, in the context of medicinal cannabis products, what we want to see are improvements in the quality and safety of those products,” she said.
“We also want to strengthen the evidence base because the more data that we have about the quality, safety, and efficacy of medicinal cannabis products, the more we can make properly informed decisions about how to regulate [them].
“And one thing we do need to recognise… is that we have an established framework where hundreds and thousands of patients are being prescribed medicinal cannabis. The most important aspect of any reforms is to ensure they are transitioned slowly, they are proportionate and they do not compromise access.
“It is very much about balance and proportion.”
Dr Nicoletti suggested improvements around labelling and dosage guidelines would go some way to improving standards while “weaknesses in our education of medicinal cannabis prescribers” should also be addressed.
“The sector organisations are trying to work as closely as we can with regulators to support this process,” she added. “We’re very supportive of regulatory frameworks, but we emphasise proportionate decisions that do not compromise access.”
Releaf Clinics head doctor Dr Priya Ayyar warned of a “a very high human cost” if there was “too much red tape”.
“There are so many genuine patients who are doing so well on this therapy,” she said. “We would hate for additional hurdles and red tape… to restrict access to those patients who need it and do best on the treatment.”
Dr Ayyar’s comments were backed by Professor Lintzeris, an addiction specialist at the University of Sydney.
He told Ticker News host Ahron Young that a “marked reduction in access” would see patients either denied medication they need or see them return to the illicit market.
“There are so many problems with illicit markets,” he said. “No-one knows what products they’re getting. There’s contamination. It requires people breaking the law. It requires people to start mixing with criminals who may be involved in selling other drugs.
“One of the extraordinary successes we’ve seen over the last decade is a large proportion of people who were using illicit cannabis have transitioned over to regulated legal supply and the vast majority have said there have been improvements in their health and in their social well-being. We don’t want to turn back on that.”
Dr Lintzeris also said there was little evidence to suggest illicit users were accessing legal medicinal cannabis for recreational use, one of the concerns voiced by some medical bodies.
In addition, restricting THC and loosening access to CBD was also unlikely to work given the two compounds work in entirely different ways, he said.
“They’re different medicines, they’re not interchangeable,” Professor Lintzeris said. “It’s not as though we can say, ‘well, we’ll crack down on THC but make CBD available’. It doesn’t work like that. They’re different medicines and they’re used in different ways.”
Cannabiz co-founder Martin Lane told the discussion it was “important to acknowledge” the industry “wants to work with the TGA” in drawing up reforms which protect patients and practitioners, build on the evidence base and lift safety standards.
“It’s vital we get this right so people can continue to access this life-changing medicine safely,” he added.