Medicinal Cannabis

Author: Professor Neil Foster, David Blayney, Paul Long
Published: Thu 05 Mar 2020
Episode Link: https://www.curtin.edu.au/news/podcasts/

In 2016, the Australian Government joined a global movement by approving the use of medicinal cannabis. Now in 2020, cannabis prescriptions are rising, but many patients are still turning to the unregulated and therefore unreliable black market.

In this episode, David speaks with chemical engineer and Curtin University academic, Professor Neil Foster, and Little Green Pharma Chief Operating Officer Paul Long, who have been working together on research into cannabis to help make the regulated products safer, more accessible, and more affordable.

Professor Foster from the WA School of Mines: Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering and his team developed a new drug delivery system called ARISE (Atomised Rapid Injection for Solvent Extraction) and under a new partnership, Curtin has provided an exclusive worldwide licence to Little Green Pharma for the system.

What is ARISE technology? (1:05)
How prohibition impacted medicinal cannabis adoption and research, and other challenges (4:08)
Can you get high off medicinal cannabis? The difference between THC and CBD (6:10)
Legitimate medicinal cannabis vs black market cannabis (10:51)
Who’s using medicinal cannabis and what illnesses does it treat? (12:39)
Where we’re heading in the future for medical cannabis research and uptake (16:30)
How much does it cost to access medicinal cannabis? (23:00)