Imported medicinal cannabis sold without testing for Australian standards, industry warns.

When Terry Russell faced crippling, chronic back and leg pain he was prescribed a debilitating dosage of opioids.

"I was on so much OxyContin at one stage, I couldn't string two thoughts together," he said.

As an alternative, the 68-year-old tried medicinal cannabis and now takes three small amounts of cannabis oil each day, which he says helps.

"I fnd it really good for the nerve pain," he said.

"It's made a big difference to my life — I'm much more comfortable."

Mr Russell is one of about 140,000 Australians currently prescribed cannabis by their doctor for medicinal purposes.

The little bottle he picks up from his pharmacy reads "Australian made", but that can mean it was only packaged here.

He felt deceived when he discovered that the cannabis he relies on may not necessarily be grown in Australia or subject to stringent Australian regulations.

"That symbol is there as a guide from the government to say that it is a product that is made and grown here," Mr Russell said.

"I would expect, and most Australians would expect, that it was sourced here."

Loophole let-down:

ECS Botanics farm manager Nan-Maree Schoerie (Above) provided rare access to the property in northern Victoria, where 40 employees were on site to harvest the crop.

Standing among towering cannabis plants, she said Australian growers worked to strict regulations not seen in other parts of the world.

"There's a lot of attention to making sure that the product that the customer gets is clean," Ms Schoerie said.

But under rules enforced by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), medicinal cannabis products sold to Australian consumers can be grown anywhere in the world.

It is up to the cannabis importer to ensure production standards laid out under the Therapeutic Goods Act are met, but the cannabis may not be subjected to the same level of testing.

Ms Schoerie said that "loophole" allowed importers to cut costs and undercut domestic growers.

"Every man and his dog is bringing flower into Australia," she said.

"Producers in Australia are in trouble — there are a lot of them that are really struggling financially."

Tasmanian grower Dan Howard said there was no guarantee imported cannabis was tested to Australian standards.

"'Australian made' does not mean it's made in Australia," he said.

"It just means the finished packaging happened in Australia and it could be done with imported ingredients."

Like Mr Russell, Mr Howard described the lack of transparency as deceptive.

"I think there's certainly a lot more imported product than doctors and patients realise," he said.

Peter Comerford has been in the medicinal cannabis industry for 30 years and runs the manufacturer, TCann, as well as NSW-based importer Anspec.

He says his companies reject poor quality products and refuse to accept products unless they have been tested in independent labs and comply with Australian standards.

He agreed there needed to be tougher regulations for the medicinal cannabis industry.

"There are many other very serious breaches of advertising, selling and marketing regulations surrounding schedule 8 medicines and unregistered medicines," Mr Comerford said.

Quality questioned:

A major Australian laboratory responsible for testing cannabis products estimates about 30 per cent of imports from Canada — the largest supplier of cannabis to Australia — do not match the strength of the active ingredients listed on the label.

The operator asked not to be identified, citing commercial sensitivities.

It claimed that up to 20% of material grown overseas and imported could also contain microbiological contaminants.

"It's potentially dangerous … as you may have microorganisms that you're inhaling into your lungs," the operator said.

"If [good manufacturing practice] is not enforced, it could have an incorrect claim on the label, or some of the toxins and pesticides, heavy metals and microbiological organisms may be present, and the consumer wouldn't know."

Imports not tested:

The TGA is concerned about the rise in the number of Australians taking medicinal cannabis.

At a conference in Melbourne last month the body's chief medical officer Robyn Langham said about 1.2 million Australians have accessed medicinal cannabis since it was legalised.

She said the regulatory body was overwhelmed by demand.

"There is a large volume of drug that is being accessed through a legislation that was not intended to provide regulatory oversight and large volume," Professor Langham told the conference.

The TGA does not routinely test imported or domestic cannabis products and says it is not its role to test every medicine that enters Australia.

"We have not conducted any testing of imported medicinal cannabis products in the last 12 months," a spokesperson said in a statement to the ABC.

That is of great concern for Australian doctors.

"We're certainly hearing stories about quality issues and adverse responses, and that should trigger concern in the community," Australian Medical Association president Steve Robson said.

"It certainly does among the medical fraternity." 

He said doctors did not have enough information about the quality of cannabis or how rigorously it was tested.

"There seems to be a very big demand and for that reason it's really important that we get the regulatory and the other frameworks around quality and safety absolutely locked in," Dr Robson said.

TGA data shows there have been six reported cases of people having adverse reactions to prescribed cannabis since 2019.

Two of those cases involved Canadian products.

Future in doubt:

The Cann Group spent $170 million on a farm near Mildura in Victoria's north-west with the aim of producing 12.5 tonnes of cannabis per year.

But last month, the Australian Stock Exchange-listed company — one of Australia's oldest cannabis producers — was suspended from trading amid cash flow troubles.

Now Cann Group is trying to offload its Mildura site to recoup funds and outgoing chief executive Peter Koetsier says the competition from unregulated cannabis imports is partly to blame.

"Local industry may just slowly peter out and die if we're not careful," he said.

Mr Koetsier said he had been urging government to change the regulatory framework to require imported products were tested to ensure they met Australian standards.

"We need someone in government to take a look at this and take responsibility," he said.

According to industry modelling, about 80 per cent of the medicinal cannabis sold in Australia is imported and takes a big slice of sales in a sector estimated to be worth about $400m.

As imports have increased, prices have slumped.

Data from medicinal cannabis clinic Honahlee shows that between January 2022 and January 2024, the minimum price of medicinal cannabis flower products plummeted 57 per cent, from $11.90 per gram to $5 per gram.

Mr Russell says it is important that he gets the "real deal".

"The reason the TGA is there is to ensure that you're getting what is advertised by the manufacturer," he said.

"I think I prefer something that is regulated here than elsewhere.

"I've heard of cannabis having other substances mixed with it that I really wouldn't want to take, and I know that I'm getting the real deal, having it grown, graded, inspected and dispensed here."

Original Story By | Tyrone Dalton & Else Kennedy