New research has indicated that 14 million Aussie adults would source a prescription of medicinal cannabis if they were eligible to.
Telehealth provider, InstantScripts, is predicting a boom in medicinal cannabis, as new research reveals 73% of Australian adults will seek it if they are eligible and suffer from a chronic illness.
The finding was derived from a survey of an independent panel of 1,000 Australian adults, commissioned by The Green Doc, an online medical practice providing consultations and medicinal cannabis to Australians suffering from chronic health conditions.
The results were released as the take up of medicinal cannabis across the country increased, with 122,000 prescriptions written for the alternative treatment in 2021, more than double the previous year’s figure.
The Green Doc’s survey found that 73% of respondents, the equivalent of 14.6 million Australians, would use medicinal cannabis if they were eligible and suffered from a chronic illness, such as chronic pain, anxiety, insomnia, migraines, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease, and multiple sclerosis. Specifically, 45% of Australians would use it for ongoing chronic pain, while 38% said they would use it for anxiety and 35% for migraines.
A similar proportion of Australian adults, young and old, said they would use medicinal cannabis. While the survey found very similar proportions or people across all age groups would use medicinal cannabis if eligible, surprisingly over-55s are more likely to seek a prescription to treat some chronic illnesses. Half (52%) of over 55s would seek it for ongoing chronic pain, compared with 32% of 18-24-year-olds; and 41% of over-55s would seek it if they were in palliative care or had a terminal illness, compared with 23% of 18-24-year-olds.
Dr Greg Scher, GP and spokesperson for The Green Doc, says the survey results suggest the uptake of medicinal cannabis will continue to boom over the next year, and several factors will impact consumer decision making.
“Over the last two years, the health of the Australian population has been consistently impacted. The combination of delayed health checks and delayed elective surgeries may have exacerbated symptoms and illnesses.”
“At Green Doc, we predict that pain management will become a critical health focus. Joint and back issues, in particular, have likely grown due to non-ergonomic remote working arrangements, along with growth in mental health symptoms such as anxiety, as result of social isolation, fears of contracting COVID and financial stress.”
He said the Green Doc service was developed to provide Australians with an alternative during instances where conventional medicines may not have worked for them, or they have faced challenges accessing a doctor in person, or traditional treatments.
