While Australian GPs are now able to prescribe medicinal cannabis, most jurisdictions still haven't created frameworks to distribute it to patients. States are left to decide who qualifies to use and dispense the product.

"Doctors haven't had any training," Sydney GP Brad McKay told BuzzFeed News. "Generally, across the board, doctors really aren't comfortable prescribing because as a general rule, we don't know if it will hurt anybody."



The Australian Medical Association (AMA) does not provide doctors with advice relating specifically to medicinal cannabis, a spokesperson told BuzzFeed News: "Doctors would have to understand the relevant regulations in their state, and also that they're across the level of evidence for the benefit of using the drug versus the potential impact it may have."

To prescribe cannabis doctors must register through both their state health body and the federal Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). A spokesperson for the TGA told BuzzFeed News only 78 doctors had applied to prescribe medicinal cannabis products since 2006. There are about 90,000 doctors in Australia.

"We've been told that we can apply for the medication, but we haven't really been told how to apply or how long it's going to take," McKay said.

The TGA says approval times for applications are not long – often a matter of days – but doctors and medicinal cannabis activists dispute these claims.

Lanai Carter, whose son Lindsay was the first in Australia to receive medicinal cannabis, knows all too well about the complicated process.