Essentially section 25 is allowing unfettered importation of medical cannabis from overseas and the Council says… Currently, there is less regulatory oversight of Section 25 imports than vitamins sold in supermarkets. Section 25 of the Medicines Act 1981 The exemption provisions in Section 25 allow all authorized prescribers to “procure the supply of any medicine” for a particular patient in their care. The term “any medicine” can include both approved and unapproved medicines. However, the authorized prescriber must always be working within their scope of practice. “Procure the supply” permits the authorized prescriber to obtain a medicine by direct importation, or by requesting that a pharmacy compound a specific medicine for a known patient. An authorized prescriber may only procure the medicine after determining that a patient under their care requires that medicine (ie, the medicine cannot be obtained prospectively). This exemption provision also allows an authorized prescriber to use an approved medicine for an unapproved use.
Cannabis Law Report, 03/02/2021 23:28:00