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Health

Why can Queenslanders with medicinal cannabis prescriptions be charged for drug possession?

A Queensland woman who faced court on drug charges despite having a prescription for medicinal cannabis wants other unsuspecting users to be aware of the strict laws around carrying the substance.

Sunshine Coast woman Hannah Scarlett Turner was charged with possession of less than one gram of a dangerous drug after being stopped by patrolling officers while walking her dog at a nature reserve at Tewantin in June.

According to court documents, police were at the Butler Street location after receiving complaints about people "smoking drugs in the area".

The documents show Ms Turner, who pleaded guilty to the charge, voluntarily told police she had a quantity of cannabis in her car.

The 27-year-old said she had taken some of the prescription drug out of the labelled container, which was also in the car, and put it in a clip-sealed bag.

Court transcripts show she was charged with possession a dangerous drug because the cannabis was not "stored in the container where it was supposed to be kept".

"It was the tiniest little bit that was left – less than a gram – and they give you these 10 gram canisters that are quite large, so if I have a tiny bit left, I'll put it in a little bag and have it in the container," Ms Turner said.

She was prescribed the drug for PTSD, anxiety and insomnia and said she had no idea keeping the drug outside the original packaging was breaking the law.

"I just was not aware because I was never told that by my doctor," Ms Turner said.

"I was never told any information on how to store it."

'Interesting conundrum'

During the 27-year-old's sentencing hearing in the Noosa Magistrates Court earlier this year, Magistrate Matthew McLaughlin conceded the drug was legally obtained and described Ms Turner's circumstances as "an interesting conundrum".

He said he would have offered her a drug diversion program as her case was ideal for that type of sentencing, but Ms Turner had denied the referral previously.

"Once I have heard from your solicitor I have changed my mind, because what she has informed me is that the cannabis you had was actually legally obtained and the reason you are committing an offence is because you did not keep it stored in the container where it was supposed to be kept," Magistrate McLaughlin said.

"So what would be the point of sending you to a drug diversion course telling you about the evils of cannabis?

"One might think nothing at all, because you are going to continue smoking cannabis, because you're lawfully allowed to.

"So that is an interesting conundrum."

Ms Turner, who works in marketing, was handed a $300 good behaviour bond and had no conviction recorded.

'Nobody actually gets told'

Ms Turner said more warnings should be given to prescription users about how to carry the drug.

"The biggest thing for me is I don't want someone to be put in that situation who doesn't have the resources like I do, who can't call their dad and get a good lawyer, who may potentially have epilepsy or Parkinson's disease and have their medication taken away from them," she said.

"People who are doing the right thing shouldn't be treated like criminals and there just needs to be more clarity around the law as well, because how are you supposed to do the right thing if you don't even know something as simple as that is breaking the law?

"It's kind of like it's set up against you — you're set up to kind of fail."

Clinical researcher Janet Schloss, from Southern Cross University's Faculty of Health, said there was a lack of education from medical practitioners about the way the patients should handle their drugs.

"There needs to be more education to the prescribers, particularly of any of the doctors that aren't doing it on a great regular basis, about what that person needs to do with they actually have that," she said.

"Particularly … if they actually take it out [of the canister], because really nobody actually gets told that."

Dr Schloss said the restrictions effectively required medicinal cannabis users — particularly those with chronic pain — to carry around large quantities of the drug.

"If it's a big container, you don't want to be carrying around that all the time," she said.

"Number one, it's quite bulky. Number two, it's a lot of money that you're carrying around.

"There's a big risk assessment that actually needs to occur."

'Still so much stigma'

Dr Schloss said there were still misconceptions about medicinal cannabis.

"It's based on stigmatism about cannabis, where legally they're actually able to have it for certain reasons versus actually recreationally smoking it," she said.

Ms Turner agreed, saying her medicinal cannabis prescription had changed her life, but not everyone accepted her use of the drug.

"I was on so many different pharmaceutical drugs before and was a shell of who I am now," she said.

"There's still so much stigma around this plant that helps people live their lives to the fullest and that needs to change."

In a statement, Queensland Health said tight regulations regarding medicinal cannabis ensured that "ongoing treatment is monitored by an authorised doctor and that the quality and consistency of the prescribed product meets national standards".

"It also ensures the patient can continue using the prescribed treatment if they are admitted to hospital for any reason," the statement said.

"Like any lawfully prescribed and dispensed medicine, medicinal cannabis will have a label which confirms the name of the prescribing doctor and where the medicine was dispensed."

Editor's note October 7, 2022: This story has been amended to clarify that no conviction was recorded against Ms Turner. 

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