Australian medical cannabis industry to quadruple sales by 2022

The market Australian medical cannabis is experiencing unprecedented growth since its legalization in 2016, with projections suggesting that sales will quadruple compared to 2022, to reach nearly a billion dollars by the end of 2024.

A booming market

Sales data provided to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) show significant year-on-year growth. In the first half of 2024 alone, 2.87 million units of medicinal cannabis were sold, a dramatic increase on the 1.68 million units sold in the second half of 2023. Estimated consumer spending rose from $234 million in 2022 to $448 million in 2023, and to $402 million in the first six months of 2024 alone.

John Ryan, CEO of the Penington Institute, a research organization that promotes harm reduction approaches to drug use, attributes this growth to greater public awareness, an increase in the number of healthcare professionals prescribing these products, and the expansion of telehealth services.

«By the end of the year, [spending] will have reached one billion,» said Ryan, highlighting how far the sector has come since the introduction of regulated access schemes in 2016.

The accessibility of medical marijuana in Australia has improved over time, thanks to factors such as the simplification of prescription processes and the product popularity with a high THC content. As part of the authorized prescriber regime, Physicians can prescribe a wide range of medical cannabis.

However, there are concerns about possible non-medical use under prescription.

A report The Penington Institute thus asserts that restricting access to cannabis to medical channels alone is not viable, and calls on the government to replace the criminal model by a regulated framework for adult use. He describes the current system as «short-sighted», given the strong demand for cannabis as a relatively harmless product.

Wednesday, efforts to advance cannabis law reform have been thwarted by the Senate's rejection of a bill to legalize cannabis, sponsored by the Greens. Senator David Shoebridge criticized the decision, saying «Labor and the Coalition have once again teamed up to reject the legislative reform the community wants».