Medicinal use of cannabis

The Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCA) has published Medicinal use of cannabis: background and Information paper, which provides an overview of what is known about medicinal cannabis use in Australia and internationally, the current state of the scientific and medical evidence for its use, and issues with the current situation in Australia.

It seems that there is a lack of evidence on this topic, largely due to the fact that it it still illegal in Australia.  "...there is a need to disentangle medical and scientific questions from legal and ideological ones in considering whether and how medicinal cannabis should be used in Australia. This is difficult to achieve, since the range of acts and regulations that control non- medicinal uses of cannabis will necessarily impact on medicinal use."

For more recent information about this topic, see a recent Sydney Morning Herald report by Melissa Healy about a JAMA study, Medical marijuana could reduce painkiller abuse. Also, see the NSW Cancer Council's Medical Use of Cannabis (marijuana) Position Statement.