A sharp surge in medicinal cannabis prescriptions issued by Victorian practitioners has ended Queensland's reign as Australia's leading state for approvals, snapping a streak that had held for nearly four years.
The last time Queensland failed to claim the top position was March 2019, when New South Wales edged it out — a gap of 46 consecutive months during which the sunshine state had held first place without interruption.
The latest data from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) shows that 271 Queensland-based prescribers generated 4,100 approved prescriptions in February, a modest increase from the 3,940 recorded in January.
Victoria, however, pulled ahead despite having 47 fewer prescribers at 224, recording 4,360 approvals — a jump of nearly 50% compared to its January total.
The closest Victoria had previously come to that figure was in November 2022, when approvals reached 3,880. Across the other eleven months of that year, the state's approval numbers ranged between 2,140 and 3,010.
No clear explanation has emerged for what drove the sudden increase in Victorian approvals.
The TGA confirmed the figures are accurate and noted the November result was "consistent with the February 23 data."
The state's health department has also been approached for comment.
Between them, Victoria and Queensland accounted for 8,460 of the 10,910 total approvals recorded during the month — an increase of nearly 2,000 from January and 18% above the figure for the same month the previous year.
New South Wales prescribers contributed 1,890 approvals, equal to 17% of the national total, followed by Western Australia with 398, South Australia with 61, the ACT with 27, and the Northern Territory with 15.
Oil-based products made up 52% of approvals, two percentage points higher than in January, while flower accounted for 36%, inhalation products 6.4%, and capsules 2.2%.
Chronic pain (45%), anxiety (30%), sleep disorders (8.2%), and PTSD (2.6%) remained the most common conditions being treated with medicinal cannabis.
