In an address to the Medicinal Cannabis Industry Australia Conference in Melbourne, Penington Institute CEO John Ryan argued that the challenges in Australia’s medicinal cannabis sector are being fuelled by the failure to regulate adult use of cannabis, The Australian reports.
The unprecedented demand we’re seeing for medical cannabis in Australia right now is being driven, at least in part, by our society’s ongoing failure to regulate adult access to cannabis for non-medicinal purposes.
As The Australian noted, weak regulation has opened the door for poor practices to develop. Mr Ryan pointed to examples of inappropriate prescribing and pressures on doctors who are forced to manage demand that was never intended to be met by the medicinal cannabis framework.
This failure has created a cottage industry for unscrupulous doctors, happy to engage in tick-and-flick prescribing. This isn’t to justify their conduct, but to acknowledge the preconditions that have allowed it to flourish,
Mr Ryan stressed that the solution lies in clearly separating medical and adult-use systems through sensible cannabis reform. He said that regulated access for adults would bring clarity, reduce pressure on the health system, and allow the medicinal sector to return to its original purpose. Creating a regulated avenue for adult cannabis use would ease demand on doctors and end the perverse incentives that currently encourage questionable prescribing.
This reform would clearly separate out the two systems. It will create a second avenue for adults to access legal and regulated cannabis, thus reducing the pressure on doctors
By redirecting cannabis demand into a safe, controlled market, Mr Ryan argued that governments could strengthen the integrity of the medicinal system while also reducing harms from the $5 billion black market. He noted that reform would create new opportunities for health investment, rather than fuelling criminal networks.
This coverage originally appeared in The Australian in August 2025 following the Medicinal Cannabis Industry Australia Conference.