Painaustralia is looking to the medicinal cannabis industry for financial backing to run a consumer sentiment survey examining patient access and affordability, with the aim of amplifying the medicine's profile among policymakers and the broader public.
The resulting report will capture what pain patients actually encounter when they approach GPs and other healthcare professionals about medicinal cannabis treatment.
Set to be launched in Canberra, the report will be distributed to every political office across federal parliament and supported by a national media campaign designed to raise awareness of the medicine and the obstacles patients face in accessing it.
Painaustralia advocates on behalf of the 3.4 million Australians living with chronic pain.
The survey aims to pinpoint the systemic changes required to improve access to affordable, legal medicinal cannabis, and to understand why large numbers of people continue to turn to the illicit market.
Painaustralia CEO Giulia Jones said: "We are keen to take a deep dive into this issue and launch a conversation about the day-to-day experience of patients seeking this treatment with federal politicians, the national media and around the country.
"What we have found through our work is that the number and types of treatments for pain allowed by government have actually reduced over the past several years, while many of those that are available are not well known and are often cost prohibitive.
"People fought hard for this treatment to be legal and available, now we need to see if consumers are getting the affordable access they are seeking."
The survey will be conducted anonymously online, though Painaustralia will ask participants for permission to share their personal stories in order to attract the attention of politicians and journalists.
Jones added: "The best way to make this a point of discussion and to change the status quo is to insert the consumer voice into the conversation and tell their personal stories."
The scale of the survey — which the organisation hopes to launch in August — will ultimately depend on how much financial support the industry provides.
For more information, email ad***@***************rg.au before Friday March 17.
