A forum exploring Women’s Health and Cannabis run by the Legalise Cannabis Party brought women together in Frankston.
Hosted by South-East Metropolitan MP Rachel Payne, the conversation explored the stigma and fear for women, especially employed women, who use medicinal cannabis as a treatment for a variety of health reasons such as endometriosis, perimenopause, Tourette syndrome, anxiety, and various other reasons.
A speaker diagnosed with leukemia couldn’t attend on Wednesday evening, 8 October, because she was worried about being sacked by her employer for using medicinal cannabis for her pain.
Panelists included pharmacist Lisa Nguyen and the CEO of a female-led dispensary, Astrid, and Tegan Scates, founder of Bloomly, an educational Australian platform focused on women’s health and cannabis education.
Medicinal cannabis is legal in Australia, including Victoria, but requires a prescription from a general practitioner or nurse practitioner.
However, some women have to “self-advocate” to their GP to receive a prescription, pharmacist Nguyen said.
“There’s a big learning curve. We aren’t taught in pharmacy schools or university curriculum, so if you’re not taught, it’s not rolled out in day-to-day practice.
“A lot of doctors are in cannabis because they have seen patients benefit from different dose formats, and they’ve done their own homework.”
Ms Nguyen’s ethnic Vietnamese mother, who had a lot of prejudice against cannabis, now uses medicinal cannabis for pain management after she was diagnosed with lung cancer.
She underwent surgery for lung removal, is on anti-cancer medications, but is unable to sleep and in a lot of pain.
Rachel Payne says there’s a medicinal cannabis industry association that hosts events for the industry professionals who are curious and would like more information on the topic.
She says more local doctors have reached out to her, and one common aspect is that their patients seek medicinal cannabis for sleep and pain management.
“So, we’ve started to see a lot more nurse practitioners who are really interested in offering prescription-based services.
“We’re also seeing a lot of doctors who are really curious about patients who use pain medications, such as benzodiazepines or opiates, who are looking to transition out of using those medications and accessing cannabis instead.
“We really want to see that shame and that stigma reduced, and that will happen when doctors become more educated about the benefits of cannabis.”
Ms Payne shared she used cannabis for all her adult life, for severe pelvic pain during menstruation ranging from mild irritation to a “complete debilitating,” and anxiety all while being a “professional woman” working 60 hours or more.
Victoria is set to release an inquiry into women’s pain as part of the Women’s Health and Wellbeing Program to address challenges faced by girls and women seeking pain care.
It will provide recommendations to improve those models of care and service delivery in the future, acknowledging medical gender bias leads to denial of pain and lack of pain relief and similar treatments for women.
While medicinal cannabis is a prescription by GPs it doesn’t safeguard users behind the wheel if they are tested positive for cannabinoid chemical THC (Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) but are unimpaired while driving.
The THC psychoactive effect of cannabis can last for few hours on average dose, but it remains in a person’s system for days or months while they remain sober.
A first-time detection through a saliva test penalises the driver with a 6-month suspension.
Through their constant advocacy, the Legalise Cannabis Party secured sentencing discretion for magistrates when medicinal cannabis script-holders test positive.
Ms Payne says a lot of magistrates are dismissing the cases.
This is while Victoria’s “world-first” $4.9 million medicinal cannabis driving trial is being conducted by Swinburne University of Technology over 18-months to assess the prescribed medicinal cannabis effect on people behind the wheel.
The report is set to be out by late next year, in time for the State election in November 2026.
