Under-25 medicinal cannabis approvals surge in Australia, experts raise red flags over youth health risks
Concerning new research finds prescriptions for medicinal cannabis among Aussies under 25 have surged in recent years.
Young Australians are increasingly turning to medicinal cannabis to deal with anxiety and chronic pain.
Data from the Therapeutic Goods Administration shows more than 50,000 medical cannabis product approvals were handed out for individuals aged 25 and under between 2016 and 2024, with the rate rising considerably from 2021.
Most were young adults aged 20 to 25 but 10 per cent were for children under the age of 15.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Anxiety and chronic pain have emerged as the top reasons young people were given medicinal cannabis, making up 43 per cent and 28 per cent of approvals respectively.
Neurodevelopmental conditions accounted for 10 per cent, and sleep disorders made up 9 per cent.
Researchers from the University of Melbourne noted a distinct split in how products were used depending on age.
Children under 15 were most commonly prescribed oil formulations containing higher levels of cannabidiol.
Older teens and young adults frequently received products containing higher levels of tetrahydrocannabinol, often in inhaled forms.
General practitioners were the most frequent prescribers.
Dr Christine Hallinan, a senior research fellow at the University of Melbourne medical school, said it was not so long ago that anxiety disorders accounted for only 10 per cent of all approvals.
“Now, anxiety disorders as a condition are accelerating above all other conditions,” Dr Hallinan said.
“The endocannabinoid system plays a really important role in adolescent and child brain development, specifically in the maturation of prefrontal and corticolimbic circuitry involved in emotional regulation, fear, and anxiety.
“You’re giving children and young people with a very sensitive growth period a substance that actually interacts with it.”
Dr Hallinan warned the compound most frequently prescribed across these age groups is THC, which is psychoactive and can affect people’s personality and motivation levels.
“THC has been associated with first presentations of psychosis, and it is also associated with cannabis use disorder and amotivational syndrome, where people become amotivated and it changes their personality in a way,” she said.
Dr Hallinan flagged concerns about how young patients are accessing the prescriptions, highlighting the rise of online clinics and vertical prescribing models.
“The model through which people can access medicinal cannabis is where the prescriber is in the same business or employed by the supplier,” Dr Hallinan said.
“That is very unusual in medicine, because you have the prescriber prescribing a product for the company that pays them.”
