THE first two commercial shipments of medicinal cannabis products to be legally imported to Australia have arrived in Melbourne and Perth.
Doctors can apply to the Therapeutic Goods Administration to legally prescribe the cannabis products with children suffering from epilepsy and patients dealing with side effects caused by cancer treatment most likely to benefit.
The shipments, both from Canada, will be held by Pharmaceutical Packaging Professionals in Victoria and Health House International in Western Australia. More shipments are expected to arrive throughout May.
These shipments are the first under a policy, introduced in February, to allow controlled importation of medicinal cannabis for approved patients.
A total of 30 permits have been granted to import medicinal cannabis products from Canada, Switzerland and the Netherlands and nine domestic licences have also now been granted - including five licences for cultivation of cannabis for medicinal use, three for cultivation for research, and one for manufacture of medicinal cannabis products.