In this weeks podcast we are joined by Professor Kylie O’Brien is the Director of Research & Education at Releaf Clinics who gives a talk about the prescription of Medicinal Cannabis.

Key Points

01:04 – Professor Kylie O’Brien works as the Director of Research and Education at Releaf Clinics. Prior to her current role, Professor O’Brien worked as a Chinese/Eastern Medicine Doctor for 20 years.

04:00 – Kylie discusses Medicinal Cannabis as a controlled drug and how she strongly believes that Cannabis needs to be treated like any other herbal medicine. In 2017, While working in National Institute of Integrated Medicine (NIIM), Kylie setup an approved RHCP course for medical practitioners wishing to prescribe Medicinal Cannabis.  This formed the basis of the TGA specialised College and ethics committee that would authorise doctors to prescription of Medicinal Cannabis as Authorised Prescribers.

06:21 – Kylie discusses TGA approved complimentary medicines in detail, high level and low-level claims.

07:58 – Kylie asserts that cannabis must be treated and regulated as complimentary medicine by TGA.

09:20 – Prof. O’Brien recalled that the TGA engaged a public consultation process as a result of her application, however, the process remained futile as the existing companies lacked scientific evidence for local chemists to synthesise it.  The failure to get TGA approval was attributed to limited clinical trials along with irresponsible media reporting.

11:50 – Kylie disagrees with the option of creating an entirely separate infrastructure specifically for Medicinal CBD, as this would oppose the goal of taking the field into mainstream medicine.

12:23 – Kylie explains that due to a constraint of educational resources, she has set up an international online platform for healthcare practitioners.  The platform comprises of world-class doctors, researchers and academics from all over the globe, with a vast video bank focused on different clinical areas relevant to Medicinal Cannabis.  Practitioners receive a certificate of completion (accreditation) at the conclusion of their studies.

16:22 – Prof. O’Brien describes the driving laws as “problematic” as they deem the presence of any cannabis in your system as illegal, even if the driver is in possession of a prescription.

17:30 – Kylie appreciates the efforts of Canada in revolutionising the use of recreational Cannabis by giving a legal status to the plant and believes that Australia needs to take a ‘leaf’ out of their book.

20:42 – Kylie regards the allegations that randomised clinical trials offering limited evidence for efficacy of Medicinal Cannabis as baseless, as she recounts the report of the National Academy of Science and Medicine in 2017 that has offered conclusive evidence of the various benefits offered by Medicinal Cannabis.

25:30 – Prof. O’Brien encourages viewers to read the summaries of research providing proof of efficacy of Medicinal Cannabis on the TGA website.

27:28 – Kylie acknowledges that just like any other herbal medicine, Medicinal Cannabis has some health risks, which are well documented.

32:00 – Kylie estimates that Medicinal Cannabis will be legalised within 5-10 years and that robust regulatory control is a necessity for all complimentary and herbal medicines.

Links

Releaf: https://releafclinics.com.au/

https://www.tga.gov.au/medicinal-cannabis