The medicinal cannabis sector must keep patients and their welfare at its core if it hopes to achieve its long-term potential, Medicinal Cannabis Industry Australia (MCIA) chair Peter Crock has said.
Speaking at the opening of the 2023 ACannabis conference in Melbourne, Crock called on attendees to stay "mindful" that cannabis is "an almost exclusively unregistered medicine" operating under strict regulatory oversight.
Holding the sector to the highest possible standards is essential to its future, he said.
"It is critical that as an industry we build and demonstrate a culture of doing things the right way, ethically, with integrity and in full compliance with the law," Crock told the audience at Melbourne's Centrepiece venue.
"This is how we will build the trust and confidence of all the communities with which we engage, and protect the reputation of our industry.
"MCIA continues to advocate for improved access to medicinal cannabis for patients, while also ensuring that patient safety and wellbeing is not compromised.
"The future for our industry is exciting – if we all work together and keep patients and their wellbeing at the forefront of our focus and activities."
Against a backdrop of new challenges, disruption, and opportunity this year, Crock identified growth in patient numbers and prescribers as the "one constant".
Yet while steady growth breeds confidence, he said the industry's long-term success would ultimately depend on "a mature approach to policymaking, a commitment to quality, adherence to high ethical standards and improved access pathways for consumers".
Building the evidentiary base for cannabis use is equally important, he added.
"Our industry and its products have the opportunity to have a profound impact on the way we treat some conditions, the potential to improve the wellbeing of a wide range of patients, and to contribute positively to Australia's health system," Crock said.
"Increasingly, however, the need to provide the stewardship and evidential support to see it become part of [the] healthcare options available to patients is very clear."
Looking to the months ahead, the former Cann Group chief described 2023 as a "significant year" given the industry's anticipation of reforms to TGO 93 taking effect on July 1.
His endorsement of those changes was measured, however, with Crock suggesting they should "somewhat assist" in levelling the playing field for domestic producers.
"[The changes] will hopefully support the substantial Australian product that is coming on line later this year and into next," Crock said.
The MCIA chair also took time to acknowledge outgoing TGA head John Skerritt, whom he described as a "great friend of the industry".
"I would like to acknowledge and thank him for his longstanding support and leadership in helping guide this new industry," he told the audience.
"While discussions have at times been robust, as they should be with the regulator, John has always been constructive and generous with his time and advice and has genuinely sought to find solutions that assist to deliver good regulation, safe outcomes for patients, and pathways for the industry to grow."
