Medicinal cannabis patients in Victoria are facing a lengthy wait before any change to drug-driving laws, after the state government announced an off-road trial set to begin next year that will run for 18 months.
Legalise Cannabis MPs Rachel Payne and David Ettershank responded to the news with deep frustration, pointing out that comparable research has already been carried out elsewhere.
Given the proposed timeline, patients may not see any substantive reform to drug-driving legislation until well into 2025.
The Legalise Cannabis Party has sought a meeting with Premier Dan Andrews to raise its concerns and convey its dissatisfaction directly.
In a joint statement, Legalise Cannabis Victoria acknowledged that patients will be "bitterly disappointed at yet another delay in getting back to the normal life that medicinal cannabis should enable them to have".
Legalise Cannabis Victoria MP David Ettershank said: "For us, and more particularly for the tens of thousands of patients who are using medicinally prescribed cannabis, this is crushing.
"This has been on the table for discussion for more than five years and this study will do nothing other than replicate what has already been done in dozens of studies both here and overseas. What purpose could it possibly serve other than to kick the can down the road?
"The bottom line here is that we are not asking for anything radical, purely that medicinal cannabis is treated the same way as every other prescribed drug.
"It raises the question that the next time big pharma produces a new painkiller, are they going to go through five years of trials and debate?"
Ettershank also pointed to confusion around the trial's schedule. While media reporting indicated it would take 18 months and begin next year, the roads minister reportedly told the Legalise Cannabis Party in a Friday meeting that the trial would be finished by the end of 2024.
"The timing is ambiguous," Ettershank said. "We have been told it will be wrapped up by the end of 2024 and that is consistent with what the premier has said publicly. We give him credit for that and our understanding is that the clock is already ticking. If that is not the case, that raises serious issues in our mind."
He also noted that the government had committed to involving Legalise Cannabis Victoria in co-designing all aspects of the trial.
"We want to ensure it is done in as timely a manner as possible with patients at the heart of it," Ettershank said. "We have indicated how bitterly disappointed we are and that we intend not to sulk. We'll be involved in the design process and no doubt will be involved in many negotiations with the government in the coming months."
The trial will also encompass the creation of a Medicinal Cannabis Clinical Decision Support Tool aimed at prescribing practitioners.
The decision to develop the toolkit follows the 2021 Medicinal Cannabis and Safe Driving working group, which concluded that a support tool at the point of prescription for medical practitioners and patients "offers an opportunity to assist medicinal cannabis patients to drive safely".
Payne said the toolkit "should be at the centre of this trial to support GPs and specialists providing clinical expertise and advice to their patients".
"This invaluable support tool helps patients understand the safe consumption of their medication, a step which ensures the roads are safe in this instance," she said.
Legalise Cannabis Victoria had called for a large-scale trial, and expectations had risen following cautious backing from Andrews.
The Labor Government had described the issue as a "priority for the government" and an "important subject matter".
