You can have an online consultation, be prescribed medicinal cannabis, and have it sent directly to your home, in a seamless operation. This one-stop-shop certainly sounds convenient.
But not everyone’s happy.
Industry observers, doctors and pharmacists call these one-stop-shops “vertical integration”. That’s when the person who prescribes medicinal cannabis or the clinic that employs them has a financial relationship with the manufacturer of the product and/or the business that dispenses it.
Critics say it’s where prescribers – GPs, specialist doctors or nurse practitioners – can feel pressured to prescribe what will make money for clinics, pharmacies and suppliers. It’s a system where patients can be prescribed medicinal cannabis, despite good clinical reasons not to. It can also lock in patients to specific products or pharmacies.
So should clinics be allowed to prescribe medicinal cannabis if they have financial links to the supplier or dispenser?
We asked five experts. Five out of five said no.
Medicinal cannabis prescriptions have skyrocketed in Australia, mostly for legal but unapproved products we don’t even know work or are safe. In this series, experts tease out what’s fuelling the rise of medicinal cannabis, the fallout, and what needs to happen next.
Barbara Mintzes receives funding from Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council. She is also an expert witness on a legal case for the Therapeutic Goods Administration (unrelated to medicinal cannabis) and was previously an expert witness for Health Canada.
Betty Chaar has nothing to disclose.
Christine Mary Hallinan has conducted research on medicinal cannabis pharmacovigilance at the University of Melbourne, including as part of the Australian Centre for Cannabinoid Clinical and Research Excellence (ACRE), funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council. She was an associate investigator with ACRE from 2017 to 2023. She contributed to a submission to the Therapeutic Goods Administration consultation on unapproved medicinal cannabis products during the 2025 consultation period. She is also a member of an expert roundtable on medicinal cannabis, chaired by Ian Freckelton (KC) and facilitated by Montu, which brings together experts to inform regulatory recommendations. These roles are disclosed for transparency and do not influence the content of this work.
Christopher Rudge has nothing to disclose.
Wendy Lipworth receives funding from the Australian Government Medical Research Future Fund.
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
