Canberra residents will soon have the option to anonymously submit their home-grown cannabis for laboratory analysis in a development that could influence legalisation debates across other Australian states and territories.
The Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics is conducting a study focused on ACT residents who grow, possess, and consume small amounts of cannabis for both medicinal and recreational purposes.
Since January 2020, ACT residents aged 18 and over have been permitted to possess small quantities of cannabis and cultivate up to two plants each, with a household maximum of four, for personal use.
Home cultivation of cannabis remains illegal across every other Australian state and territory.
Known as the CAN-ACT study, the research will assess the outcomes of decriminalisation. It begins with an anonymous online survey exploring cannabis use, behaviours, and attitudes among ACT residents, and will then invite participants to anonymously send in samples of their home-grown cannabis for testing.
Samples collected from growers will be tested for their chemical composition — including THC, CBD, and other cannabinoids — at no cost to participants, who will be able to view their results anonymously through an online portal.
Researchers will also screen for potentially harmful contaminants that can enter cannabis during cultivation, such as fungal toxins, heavy metals, and pesticides. Participation is limited to current ACT residents.
Lead researcher and Lambert Initiative director Professor Iain McGregor said: "Growers who are achieving profound therapeutic effects with cannabis are naturally curious about what their cannabis contains."
The study drew inspiration from 'Patrick', a 70-year-old Canberra man whose late wife was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour and turned to home-grown cannabis during the final 18 months of her life.
Patrick said the cannabis provided her with a quality of life that prescription medications had been unable to deliver.
"The standard 'end of life' drug package made my wife comatose. This never happened with cannabis.
"We had no prior cannabis experience, we had to work out what dosage to take and how often.
"The biggest difficulties arose when we could not figure out if a symptom was the result of the tumour, the pharmaceuticals, or the cannabis.
"This is where I believe 'user testing' can improve our knowledge."
Although ACT residents have had access to the CanTEST Health and Drug Checking Service — an ACT Government pilot that allows people to test substances such as pills, capsules, powders, crystals, and liquids — cannabis was not included in that program.
The research team hopes their findings will help make home-grown cannabis use safer, including by identifying ways to minimise unintended contaminants during cultivation and clarifying questions around driving after consumption.
The Lambert Initiative said findings — expected in early 2023 — could serve as a reference point for cannabis legalisation discussions in other Australian states and territories.
To register or find out more, click here.
