The federal government will not renew its funding for Australia’s peak national cannabis research and information body, citing a change in policy focus to other drugs, including crystal methamphetamine, more commonly known as ice.
The National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre at the University of New South Wales was funded by the federal government in 2007 in response to concerns about cannabis-related harms in the community.
It is the primary source of evidence-based cannabis information for Australians and provides free clinical training to healthcare professionals. The NCPIC also runs a helpline and and online quit programs.
A department of health spokesman told Guardian Australia that the government had provided more than $30m to the NCPIC. But national drug strategy household survey data from 2013 had shown the lifetime prevalence of cannabis use had remained fairly constant over the past 20 years, he said.
As a result, funding would not be renewed when the current funding agreement expires on 31 December. This decision was consistent with current national drug policy, the spokesman said.
“There is a need to consider a more holistic, responsive and current approach to the provision of drug and alcohol research and information needs of the drug and alcohol sector and the community that is broader than focusing on a single substance,” he said.
“In particular, consultations and information gathering over the past 18 months has identified a change in policy context and priorities, including the release of the National Ice Action Strategy.
The NCPIC director, Prof Jan Copeland, said she feared that once the centre closed its doors, websites and organisations which promote inaccurate information that is not based on evidence will become more prominent.
She fears Australians with life-threatening illnesses will now be left to take their information from biased, non-evidence-based legalisation lobbying websites, many of which make unfounded claims about the illnesses cannabis can treat.
“While there are for-profit general alcohol and other drug information sources along with the state and federal drug campaign websites, there is no organisation in Australia or internationally, that can fill the gap left by NCPIC,” she said.
“We have the researchers who can assess the scientific merit of the evidence to bring clear messages to cannabis users and their families.
“We have evidence-based clinical tools and interventions, tested and published in peer-reviewed journals, available to service providers and the public, free of charge, in the form of a telephone helpline, web and smartphone based brief interventions. We are also the last source of free clinical training to Australian clinician’s on assessment and brief interventions for cannabis use disorders.”
Prof Nick Lintzeris, an addiction medicine specialist at the university of Sydney, said it was always concerning when evidence-based reserch centres were forced to close their doors.The NCPIC was respected by health workers, he added
“The centre is an easy was for the community to access reliable information around cannabis,” he said. “Are there other organisations and websites? Yes they are, but this one was reputable and authoritative.”
