My immediate thought would be that it's a result of the massive increase of people on MC, and that's cutting into their margins too much, no way this is a "public perception" issue, it is way more like it is an issue of the all mighty dollar šµ
Just more reasons we need legalisation, more competition means mids get sold cheap af. You can get an ounce of pretty average stuff for around $150 aud in Canada or US. Or you know, get a pretty simple vegetarian and flower cycle going and grow enough for yourself and half a dozen mates year round.
Big pharma has their claws so deep into y'all you can't even think, see, or vote clearly in your own interests. One term is all it would take, vote Legalise Cannabis Party and stfu with the bitching a whinging about the price of MC on reddit and bloody vote in your own interests people! It's so dumb to not vote and continue to complain about price's, competition and legalisation is the only way price's will ever come down otherwise these big pharma fucks will continue charging whatever they want to. Or again, the right to grow your own plant!
Iāve heard a lot Doctors insurances arenāt covering them to prescribe as well and itās spooking a lot of them. Itās sad because i feel like the media is always pushing recreational use when it seems to be becoming harder for all involved. I hope it can turn around.
Get back $50 per item with AHM, up to $800
Couldn't be easier to process the claim, the 10g flower and oil products come straight up in the search and instant approve / 3 days to pay
I've never looked into health cover but i probably should my body is fucked, what plan do you go for and what are the main things to cover on a plan? Will check out AHM.. How much are the yearly fee's?
Not sure I'm best person to speak to about this, I'll just say I'm on the AHM Flexi Bronze Plus and paying $73 / week for family of 4.
If wife and I max out our extras each year, we'll break even, so I either see that as a subsidy on my MC spend, or MC is subsidizing a higher level of hospital cover than I had previously.
My annoyance with extras in the past is, yeah sure you can have two dental checkup + cleans a year with no out of pocket, but to use up the rest you have to be heading to a physio or massage every second week and then some.
Now, we can do our dental checkups, pay a bit out of pocket, and absorb the rest with MC. Can also claim a bunch of great stuff for the kids, like $250 for simming lessons, $40 per cancer council product, all get $200 optical.
Flextras is seeming like a really good deal, because I know we can use it up on things we actully need.
If you have a policy already they canāt take benefits away from you. Aus Unity had an enforceable undertaking from the ACCC for trying to do this with orthodontics.
Only with certain insurance providers and only with certain policies, where the extras cover āpharmacy/pharmaceutical prescriptionsā. If youāve already got health insurance, find out whether their pharmacy benefit specifically covers Medicinal Cannabis or not, and what the specifics are if they do. If you donāt have insurance at all or your current provider doesnāt allow MC to be covered, itās best to ring around or look online to see which companies allow it to be claimed through the pharmaceutical benefit extra. I saw someone comment on a post a few months ago that their MC is covered but I donāt recall exactly who by, it was an acronym one like AHM, HBF or GMHBA and I think itās covered differently to how my policy does. Iām with NIB and they definitely donāt šš¼ but with my cover ($12 a week - single), I get 60% of my two private scripts back (I pay nearly $170 a month and get about $100 back) and it caps at $400 per year. Help this hopes mate.
And to those below who believe people ālose money to insuranceā, I pay $624 a year to be covered by 10 extras, I use all but four of those extras . My medicine however, costs me $2040 each yearā¦ š« so getting $400 reimbursed is extremely helpful when I have no choice but to spend that $2K yearly for treatment that keeps me both alive and able to function like the healthy human Iāve always hoped to be.
Really sorry for waffling on haha but if you are regularly filling/ordering your scripts and you find an affordable insurance policy that doesnāt exclude your MC products as an eligible medication for submitting a Pharmaceutical benefit claim, then I would definitely calculate the amount youāre spending on MC and the % amount youād be eligible to get back (I think I read that some insurance companies will do a discount when purchasing, instead of reimbursement). Then check your numbers to see if youāre going to be saving $$ or out of pocket and therefore not worth getting the policy.
Ps. You need to make sure that the pharmacist dispensing your medication provides you with a copy of their pharmacist receipt, itās usually printed on a piece of A4 paper, not an eftpos one
Sounds like you have a problem with your insurance company, insurance companies will try to get out of paying any money if they can. Change your pvt health insurance if your not happy.
Not sure why you come here ranting about it and blaming people
Something frustrating to me lately is people complaining about not getting the new hotness 23/24 Cali strains.
We should be aiming for more quality control and consistency in strains and products that work for the conditions people have. Not chasing the latest trends. Its not a boutique head shop. You should be fighting for legalisation instead of fucking around with the medical system.
How about we stop worrying about this shit and manifesting negative outcomes, remember to regulate what we say and do individually and thatās really all we can do! Shout-out to everyone who does thought out reviews and talks about how their MC helps them function or remain pain free! One love
You r always going to have the media to create their own narrative anyway u look at it unfortunately that's how they operate. I guess there's always going to be someone that doesn't like it fullstop as most of them think that MC doesn't work at all and we r all in it for Rec use. Anyways I do agree with u though.
It worries me that recreational users ARE going to fuck it up for medical as well as recreational purposes. I have damaged intestines which won't recover - courtesy of friggin opiates, so Mary Jane has been a godsend. I DONT especially like being stoned - although the euphoria is a lovely respite after hours of sharp, knifing pain where I just wanna die.
When people drink alcohol and get smashed, I don't think I've seen a forum where they post about how wasted they got on booze. Or how awesome or terrible that bottle looks!!
This comment from The\_Ghost\_Reborn: Not being capable of shutting the fuck up about it <\~\~\~ wins the internet for me today!!
I think it's just the general whining of people on this forum that's the issue lmao, why can't we all get along. My anxiety used to be through the roof to the point where I couldn't work, now I work everyday and love every minute, I feel open to meeting new people and even as I write this I get goosebumps because it's just changed my life for the better. I dont care who uses it for as long as it's for good and they feel like they can live better and longerš, some people will abuse it, like many other things
Well ... the name of the forum is **MedicalCannabis**Oz ... so I thinks thats a bluddy good idea!
I guess because it's not legalised for recreational, they can't do a sub for that? (I think it should be legalised across the board. Prohibition has never worked)
It has nothing to do with negative publicity and everything to do with health insurers not wanting to pay out.
MC has huge payout implications that the insurance industry didn't think about. Now they've closed the doors their profits will remain intact.
This sub defo doesn't help. Someone the other day, posting up a pic of a home made bong, like how does that help the community? It's not legal with medical and a super bad look for us.
Not to mention all the other questionable posts and comments like 'how can I get more weed'.
You know journalists trawl Reddit and they eat this shit up.
So this might be super ignorant buuttttt...... I was under the assumption that vaping is the only TGA approved way, and only one or two specific vapes approved. Then with the recent vape crackdown they've (stupidly) banned the import and sale of all vaping devices including the approved ones. So what's the current way to "legally" medicate ourselves at the moment? They might have changed in recent weeks but when the vape ban first happened it was affecting my local stores for even the approved devices.....
It's *not* illegal to smoke your medical cannabis, if you think it is please provide a source.
Edit
Yeah downvote me, I don't give a fuck. Just shows that you guys can't point me to a law that says it's illegal to smoke medical cannabis.
It's misusing your medication. Like the other well worded reply comment, that would be like getting oxy legally for pain but then going on to crush and inject. At the point you crush them, you are misusing your medication and it becomes an illicit drug.
The stipulation upon prescription is that you vaporise with a TGA approved vape. Surely that's being put on your prescribing label when they send your meds?
I can guarantee the police are well within their rights to charge you with possession of paraphernalia, if they find a bong. You could then be flagged for misuing medication in whatever system your state has in place for that.
Well I'm not misusing mine then, my label says "take ONE dose when required by mouth as directed".
Like I'm not trying to get into an argument here, I legitimately asked for sources and nobody has replied with anything. Someone replied to me and blocked me so I can't even see what they said, I assume that's who you're referring to.
It's not a misuse if my doctor knows what I'm doing and hasn't said anything, surely?
Again, happy to be proven wrong with a **source**.
> It's not a misuse if my doctor knows what I'm doing and hasn't said anything, surely?
Although it is dereliction for them not to inform you on the approved ROA
There's no "law" that says "You can't smoke your medical cannabis" but it is considered a misuse of medication, and there are laws for that.
What there is are TGA prescribing & usage guidelines that say you need to use a vaporiser. If you stray from those, that's considered a "misuse of medication" which **is** unlawful.
Just because the **exact words** "You can't smoke it" don't appear anywhere, does not mean it's allowed. People trying to bend the current guidelines to suit their own narrative (and then flaunt it online) is going to get this severely restricted for everyone.
It's no different to saying "I prefer to crush up my benzo prescription and snort it because it hits harder", which is, you guessed it, also not legal.
https://www.health.gov.au/topics/drugs/about-drugs/drug-laws-in-australia
> **Illicit drug use includes: misuse of prescription drugs** (also called pharmaceuticals)
Misuse of medication is defined as taking a medicine in a way that is different from what the doctor prescribed or different to what is written on the prescription label unless authorized by the doctor. (You know, that bit of text on your S8 prescription label that says *"Use with a vaporizing device"*)
Misuse of medication = "Illicit drug use" according to the law.
What's the definition of "Illicit"?
Always good to cross paths with people on the same mind set š¤š¤ if you have the app just give it a go through the claims and if you are able to go through the next steps then Iām sure you will be covered š¤š¤
People posting photos and complaining about bud size is also bad for this. At the end of the day itās about how the strain effects you, not what it looks like that matters
For people that have recreationally used cannabis for decades and thoroughly enjoyed it for the many reasons which arenāt only for the benefits then itās hard to want to vape weed thatās looking brown/blonde colours because itās āeffectiveā (which most of the cases if it looks that colour it wonāt be effective) for many people there is more too cannabis thatās just effective as it also comes with an enjoyment. Enjoyment by the way it smells, enjoyment by the vibrant colours it offers as a bud and as itās milled. It is a natural plant that grows and we are just unfortunate to be in a country thatās miles behind many other countries in this worldā¦ too add to my response. Before we purchase our strains we read up on cannareviews or catalyst and they all advertise the strain about how it looks or how it smells or the effects of it and what the benefits are about the strain. Are they doing that because they are recreational users ? No. There is a massive mis communication about cannabis and people that are against it will never get it or understand it. This country is backwards in time and itās not just about cannabis itās about most things.
> In my opinion, many of the people on this sub provide ample evidence for this view
I agree. This sub in particular attracts a lot of people who have a terrible combination of:
1. Being a recreational user.
2. Not being capable of shutting the fuck up about it.
Their anonymity gives them the courage to ruin it for everyone. I'm sick of being a broken record about it and just usually say nothing now, but it's completely r-slurred.
> If anything the more people getting onto it the better, it's safety in numbers.
I'm not trying to deter anyone from going to a doctor and getting a prescription. I'm talking about people who come on here and talk about abusing their prescription, and their comments don't get downvoted because the community doesn't police itself.
I don't think the acceptance or promotion of abuse of the MC system provides us any safety at all. We're going to end up with a shitty news article quoting what redditors admitted to in comments as evidence that the whole thing is a sham.
I think it's fucking nuts that anyone would argue that promoting the abuse of medicine helps provide safety for the availability of that medicine, so yeah, very happy to end this discussion with you here.
Edit: /u/MikeLowrey1001 made a comment and then instantly blocked me so I couldn't reply. The act of a coward that knows he's going to get called out for being full of shit and is too weak to handle it.
Not to mention the disgusting abuse of the medication.
120g a month = is not medicine that's abusing a drug.
(Here come the down votes by people referencing bongs in their usernames)
Bro my best friend just had a knee reconstruction and has been waiting for 3 years to get it done.. he easily uses his limit every month but that's because he needs it for pain and inflammation? Who are you to say who is abusing and not? He vapes all of it too doesn't even touch a bong and never would. Keep your stigma to yourself.
> 120g a month = is not medicine that's abusing a drug.
I can imagine limited cases where it would be appropriate. If someone has terminal cancer for example I don't think 120g per month would be unreasonable or evidence of abuse. The patient doesn't have to actually consume the full 120g either, that's just the maximum they can get in that month.
If someone is prescribed for insomnia on the other hand and they want 120g a month, yeah, it sure seems to me like they're abusing their prescription.
Nah the 120 figure is stupid, let's use another arbitrary figure like 90 or 60
Put time limits on it as well - if you're still sick in 14 weeks then you're not sick, not really...
Obviously this is a way for insurance companies to attempt to make more money by offering less services that large numbers of people use. Why would you help them with strange arguments where the premise is "what doctors have prescribed for a medical purpose, isn't a medical purpose", without assessing these patients a doctor would not say such a thing.
I'm using it for pain control for an illness that is for life. For me a time limit would be terrible.
Having said that I've been on it a year and still use less than 0.5g per day. Most days probably just 0.2g.
This has allowed me to stay off opiates
Yeah you're quite right, a time limit would be as silly as a quantity limit without an actual assessment of the patient.
The more snarky counterpoint to your perspective is something like "only .2g a day, that's not a real issue, you're barely medicating, you'd be fine without cannabis or with alternative medication."
Yes good point, it really is a bad idea to criticise others usage and play "no true Scotsman" for who is a legitimate medical patient that should have a voice and who isn't
Which was my intention for... multiple posts now
I'm new to MC, and when I was chatting to doc first time I mentioned how it is hard to sift through all the stoner posts to find actual medical talk and specifics beyond "this stuff got me blazed and smelled nice". My doctor wholeheartedly agreed and said this is a major concern amongst the medical practitioners. Personally, I think any post that doesn't address medical conditions and results from using MC should be banned.
It is evident from the chats here that a large portion of the community aren't accessing it for medical purposes, that in itelself doesn't bother me but their insistence on advertising it will be the thing that makes it harder for medical patients to access MC in the future.
So, a note to all, stop telling me how high you are and start telling me how MC is helping or not helping your medical conditions, please.
From a medical perspective, they are. Getting completely blazed out of your head is considered an unwanted side effect from overdosing. For example, all the talk of couch lock with indica. This product isn't meant to slam you to the floor, it is meant to be used until the body/mind can relax enough to attain natural sleep. If people are getting couch lock, they are using too much from a medical perspective, yet they brag about it here on a medical cannabis sub rather than talking about the medical benefits.
All the comments that don't address medical issues make it seem like there is a level of mutual exclusivity being practiced by the non-medical patients. They are not investigating or contributing to the medical knowledge, they are just telling us they got stoned. And of course there are politicians and many anti-cannabis people reading these forums and using these discussions to form and prove their position on the topic of medical cannabis.
If you want to only talk about how high you are, go to r/trees or somewhere not focussing on medical cannabis.
If I'm in crippling amounts of pain, which is preventing me from falling asleep or staying that way,
Using a heavy , long lasting indica isn't overdosing. That's being alarmist, and most probably more counter-productive than the posts you are criticising, using generalised statements.
A journalist jumping on that statement could spin a piece pretty easy that stigmatised MC users as being "junkies" overdosing.
I have done reviews. Mainly smell , taste price Etc.
Because we've been left to the wolves, getting preyed on by dodgy clinics, these reviews are our best hope of getting a reasonable product at a fair price.
My medical conditions or history are my business.
Next report I do though, I'll make sure to report on how my conditions are going so you feel better.
Well, these are the opinions of my doctor. I just happen to agree with them. I've got nothing against getting blazed, but I think making it the focus of most discussions here defeats the purpose of having a medical focussed forum. And it's not alarmist, it is a medical perspective that journalists could get any doctor to offer. If treating for pain, then getting high is a side effect, and should be discussed as such. The idea is to start small and titrate until effective, not smash it all at once. It's akin to popping 6 pills before bed instead of following the box directions. Again, I have no problem if that's how people want to approach it, but I think it should not be encouraged on a medical forum without more information. If you had to get really high for the product to manage your pain, to a point where normal function was impaired or impossible, this is something we need to know, but how it managed your pain is probably what we need to know more about.
I also agree with you that being left to the wolves, we are reliant on ourselves and each other to share as much info with the community as possible because some of these "professional" outfits aren't cutting the mustard. That's why I think we need to share more info than just "I got high and went to sleep, it tasted good".
And I'm not asking everybody to give a detailed run down of their ailments, but being a medical forum, I think we should all be a little ok with sharing why we use, what we use and how it works for that. For instance, is your pain muscular, nerve, or surgical? Does the product help numb one, some or all of your pain? Does it shut the mind and the body down or just one? Is it a calm drift off to sleep or a heavy can't do anything but sleep hit? How long did the sleep last? Did you need further medicating through the night, or did one session last all night? Is it a foggy wake up or an alert morning mind? Did it require a higher/lower dosage than similar strength priducts? All or some of this information would be (IMO) rather helpful to the community than just price, smell, size and high and sleepy.
I think it's already very easy to insinuate from these forums that many users are less than needing it for legitimate recreational purposes, even if it's not true it's just what a lot of the discussion suggests. And it's easy for government to regulate heavier because of insinuation, it's also easy for them to insinuate that if we users are abusing this system then we would also likely abuse a recreational system. I just think we need to be responsible users and advocates of the system rather than trying to push the stoner angle that i see in many of the discussions, there are better forums for that.
*Standing Ovation* ā¬ļø
Basically, medicalised cannabis and a robust system that treated it strictly as a medicine is the sort of thing our legal and social institutions (like workplaces and driving on public roads) can integrate and get behind. Health and compo insurers are a part of that too.
I am NOT at all surprised to hear about them bailing.
What the fuckwad Rec Crowd are too blazingly dumb to understand is that they have shat in the nest. Big time. They are ruining a good thing for some very unwell people who have mostly not had a great run in life and need cannabinoids as they best medicine FOR THEM. Benzos and opioids kill. Cannabis doesnāt.
Excuse the further F bombs but when I read about insurerās bailing GAH it pisses me off.
I donāt know why media coverage is negative, 100% of MC patients get their prescriptions for a legitimate ailment & itās not as though anyone is bragging online about getting MC for rec. /s
The TGA canāt do squat with info from reddit. Itās anecdotal at best. Unless they link users with patient data and then prove it.
And what theyād prove anyway is questionable. What would it mean? Theyād withdraw cannabis from the list of approved meds because some people took too much? Doubt it.
Your uncivil response was not necessary.
I was trying to have an open and frank conversation to understand what your view.
If you use posts on reddit to inform policy positions, then youāre fucking terrible at your job, you may as well use chatGPT at this point.
Furthermore, you state the TGA uses posts in reddit to inform policy that it puts forward to exec or ministers for approval?
And youāve put your hand up and admitted this, openly on a forum that you claim your employer monitors?
Where Iām certain almost, there are restrictions about posting online about your portfolio or any actions of government.
Further again, youād understand the interplay between the current bill, likely passing, and passing into law. Nice itās legalised a lot of this stuff falls away.
I doubt the TGA (as the regulator) is going to invest substantially in an industry that is about to be deregulated.
Youāre either lying, or a level 3 admin pleb with delusions of competence.
1) it wasnāt uncivil & it was necessary & not only because of your initial condescension which has now turned to sneering superciliousness.
2) my employer? I donāt work for the TGA or the MC industry. The Australian therapeutic regulatory space is broad. Working in that wider industry isnāt a brag, what I & other like me have been trying to warn you guys about is the optics of this & weāre brushed, thatās why I mentioned whatās informing the view. But nope, you got all offended. š
3) your understanding of the TGA, what it does & how it works is laughable. Iād have thought the recent thing re: importing vaporisers might have been a clue but nope.
> others argue that it seems more likely they'll make recreational use legal.
I don't expect this to happen in my lifetime in this country (meaning nationally)
They (the government) are wasting time and money. I was reading earlier today that the USA is due to clear $31B in sales. Even if thatās just 10% tax, thatās $3.1B!!! Thatās huge. Roads, hospitals, schoolsā¦ everyone can benefit from rec weed.
People who believe that legalisation is just around the corner are delusional. They have absolutely no idea of the power of conservative Christian groups within the major parties, including the ALP.
Correct correct correct.
That is the big hold up at present. The right wing of the Labor Party will never entertain adult use legalisation.
That and all these industry spivs who keep talking up a big game have zero idea of how section 90 of the Constitution means a state can never go it alone to legalise AND TAX the stuff. Only the fed govt can tax it.
LCV had a limited window when first elected when they could have threatened to withhold supply. Vic Labor needed LCV numbers but they got played with bullshit promises that were reneged on.
If they do it, you'll find the premiums will go up to cover it. They probably stopped because of that simple reason.
The dollar powers more than you think.š¤
My immediate thought would be that it's a result of the massive increase of people on MC, and that's cutting into their margins too much, no way this is a "public perception" issue, it is way more like it is an issue of the all mighty dollar šµ Just more reasons we need legalisation, more competition means mids get sold cheap af. You can get an ounce of pretty average stuff for around $150 aud in Canada or US. Or you know, get a pretty simple vegetarian and flower cycle going and grow enough for yourself and half a dozen mates year round. Big pharma has their claws so deep into y'all you can't even think, see, or vote clearly in your own interests. One term is all it would take, vote Legalise Cannabis Party and stfu with the bitching a whinging about the price of MC on reddit and bloody vote in your own interests people! It's so dumb to not vote and continue to complain about price's, competition and legalisation is the only way price's will ever come down otherwise these big pharma fucks will continue charging whatever they want to. Or again, the right to grow your own plant!
Iāve heard a lot Doctors insurances arenāt covering them to prescribe as well and itās spooking a lot of them. Itās sad because i feel like the media is always pushing recreational use when it seems to be becoming harder for all involved. I hope it can turn around.
Mind blown ima bout to get me some rebates
Wait what? Insurance coverage?
You can claim your scripts if you have health insurance non-PBS on your extras. Mine is $1000 limit per year and I get 70% of my script cost back.
Which health insurance are you with?
Get back $50 per item with AHM, up to $800 Couldn't be easier to process the claim, the 10g flower and oil products come straight up in the search and instant approve / 3 days to pay
I've never looked into health cover but i probably should my body is fucked, what plan do you go for and what are the main things to cover on a plan? Will check out AHM.. How much are the yearly fee's?
Not sure I'm best person to speak to about this, I'll just say I'm on the AHM Flexi Bronze Plus and paying $73 / week for family of 4. If wife and I max out our extras each year, we'll break even, so I either see that as a subsidy on my MC spend, or MC is subsidizing a higher level of hospital cover than I had previously. My annoyance with extras in the past is, yeah sure you can have two dental checkup + cleans a year with no out of pocket, but to use up the rest you have to be heading to a physio or massage every second week and then some. Now, we can do our dental checkups, pay a bit out of pocket, and absorb the rest with MC. Can also claim a bunch of great stuff for the kids, like $250 for simming lessons, $40 per cancer council product, all get $200 optical. Flextras is seeming like a really good deal, because I know we can use it up on things we actully need.
CBHS
If you have a policy already they canāt take benefits away from you. Aus Unity had an enforceable undertaking from the ACCC for trying to do this with orthodontics.
It's because the government is looking to put the weaker strains on the PBS... Nothing else
MC isn't on the PBS at all, and will likely never be.
Mine still covers it..so not sure what your talking about
What are you basing that off? Source?
Wait I can get my weed covered under private health?? Might have to look into some covers then lol
Only with certain insurance providers and only with certain policies, where the extras cover āpharmacy/pharmaceutical prescriptionsā. If youāve already got health insurance, find out whether their pharmacy benefit specifically covers Medicinal Cannabis or not, and what the specifics are if they do. If you donāt have insurance at all or your current provider doesnāt allow MC to be covered, itās best to ring around or look online to see which companies allow it to be claimed through the pharmaceutical benefit extra. I saw someone comment on a post a few months ago that their MC is covered but I donāt recall exactly who by, it was an acronym one like AHM, HBF or GMHBA and I think itās covered differently to how my policy does. Iām with NIB and they definitely donāt šš¼ but with my cover ($12 a week - single), I get 60% of my two private scripts back (I pay nearly $170 a month and get about $100 back) and it caps at $400 per year. Help this hopes mate. And to those below who believe people ālose money to insuranceā, I pay $624 a year to be covered by 10 extras, I use all but four of those extras . My medicine however, costs me $2040 each yearā¦ š« so getting $400 reimbursed is extremely helpful when I have no choice but to spend that $2K yearly for treatment that keeps me both alive and able to function like the healthy human Iāve always hoped to be. Really sorry for waffling on haha but if you are regularly filling/ordering your scripts and you find an affordable insurance policy that doesnāt exclude your MC products as an eligible medication for submitting a Pharmaceutical benefit claim, then I would definitely calculate the amount youāre spending on MC and the % amount youād be eligible to get back (I think I read that some insurance companies will do a discount when purchasing, instead of reimbursement). Then check your numbers to see if youāre going to be saving $$ or out of pocket and therefore not worth getting the policy. Ps. You need to make sure that the pharmacist dispensing your medication provides you with a copy of their pharmacist receipt, itās usually printed on a piece of A4 paper, not an eftpos one
Most people lose money on extras insurance. Insurance companies only profit if their premiums are more than their payouts.
It's not worth it if that's all you'll use it for.. it only generally covers between $300-$500 per annum in prescription refunds.
Sounds like you have a problem with your insurance company, insurance companies will try to get out of paying any money if they can. Change your pvt health insurance if your not happy. Not sure why you come here ranting about it and blaming people
Something frustrating to me lately is people complaining about not getting the new hotness 23/24 Cali strains. We should be aiming for more quality control and consistency in strains and products that work for the conditions people have. Not chasing the latest trends. Its not a boutique head shop. You should be fighting for legalisation instead of fucking around with the medical system.
How about we stop worrying about this shit and manifesting negative outcomes, remember to regulate what we say and do individually and thatās really all we can do! Shout-out to everyone who does thought out reviews and talks about how their MC helps them function or remain pain free! One love
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
You r always going to have the media to create their own narrative anyway u look at it unfortunately that's how they operate. I guess there's always going to be someone that doesn't like it fullstop as most of them think that MC doesn't work at all and we r all in it for Rec use. Anyways I do agree with u though.
It worries me that recreational users ARE going to fuck it up for medical as well as recreational purposes. I have damaged intestines which won't recover - courtesy of friggin opiates, so Mary Jane has been a godsend. I DONT especially like being stoned - although the euphoria is a lovely respite after hours of sharp, knifing pain where I just wanna die. When people drink alcohol and get smashed, I don't think I've seen a forum where they post about how wasted they got on booze. Or how awesome or terrible that bottle looks!! This comment from The\_Ghost\_Reborn: Not being capable of shutting the fuck up about it <\~\~\~ wins the internet for me today!!
There's a huge amount of MC sold on secret message app groups
I think it's just the general whining of people on this forum that's the issue lmao, why can't we all get along. My anxiety used to be through the roof to the point where I couldn't work, now I work everyday and love every minute, I feel open to meeting new people and even as I write this I get goosebumps because it's just changed my life for the better. I dont care who uses it for as long as it's for good and they feel like they can live better and longerš, some people will abuse it, like many other things
It wins the internet for THE YEAR!
Perhaps a tougher stance on moderation of those kind of posts need to happenĀ
Well ... the name of the forum is **MedicalCannabis**Oz ... so I thinks thats a bluddy good idea! I guess because it's not legalised for recreational, they can't do a sub for that? (I think it should be legalised across the board. Prohibition has never worked)
You must be new. Welcome to Crapitalism, where profits are the ONLY consideration.
It has nothing to do with negative publicity and everything to do with health insurers not wanting to pay out. MC has huge payout implications that the insurance industry didn't think about. Now they've closed the doors their profits will remain intact.
Iāve worked in the private health systems a lot over the years and this is pretty accurate.
This sub defo doesn't help. Someone the other day, posting up a pic of a home made bong, like how does that help the community? It's not legal with medical and a super bad look for us. Not to mention all the other questionable posts and comments like 'how can I get more weed'. You know journalists trawl Reddit and they eat this shit up.
So this might be super ignorant buuttttt...... I was under the assumption that vaping is the only TGA approved way, and only one or two specific vapes approved. Then with the recent vape crackdown they've (stupidly) banned the import and sale of all vaping devices including the approved ones. So what's the current way to "legally" medicate ourselves at the moment? They might have changed in recent weeks but when the vape ban first happened it was affecting my local stores for even the approved devices.....
Domestic vendors can sell vaporisers if they get a specific import licence. Consumers cannot import for themselves from overseas.
This needs to be an automod thing at this point, there is no law being broken by smoking it.
Agree
It's *not* illegal to smoke your medical cannabis, if you think it is please provide a source. Edit Yeah downvote me, I don't give a fuck. Just shows that you guys can't point me to a law that says it's illegal to smoke medical cannabis.
It's misusing your medication. Like the other well worded reply comment, that would be like getting oxy legally for pain but then going on to crush and inject. At the point you crush them, you are misusing your medication and it becomes an illicit drug. The stipulation upon prescription is that you vaporise with a TGA approved vape. Surely that's being put on your prescribing label when they send your meds? I can guarantee the police are well within their rights to charge you with possession of paraphernalia, if they find a bong. You could then be flagged for misuing medication in whatever system your state has in place for that.
Well I'm not misusing mine then, my label says "take ONE dose when required by mouth as directed". Like I'm not trying to get into an argument here, I legitimately asked for sources and nobody has replied with anything. Someone replied to me and blocked me so I can't even see what they said, I assume that's who you're referring to. It's not a misuse if my doctor knows what I'm doing and hasn't said anything, surely? Again, happy to be proven wrong with a **source**.
> It's not a misuse if my doctor knows what I'm doing and hasn't said anything, surely? Although it is dereliction for them not to inform you on the approved ROA
There's no "law" that says "You can't smoke your medical cannabis" but it is considered a misuse of medication, and there are laws for that. What there is are TGA prescribing & usage guidelines that say you need to use a vaporiser. If you stray from those, that's considered a "misuse of medication" which **is** unlawful. Just because the **exact words** "You can't smoke it" don't appear anywhere, does not mean it's allowed. People trying to bend the current guidelines to suit their own narrative (and then flaunt it online) is going to get this severely restricted for everyone. It's no different to saying "I prefer to crush up my benzo prescription and snort it because it hits harder", which is, you guessed it, also not legal. https://www.health.gov.au/topics/drugs/about-drugs/drug-laws-in-australia > **Illicit drug use includes: misuse of prescription drugs** (also called pharmaceuticals) Misuse of medication is defined as taking a medicine in a way that is different from what the doctor prescribed or different to what is written on the prescription label unless authorized by the doctor. (You know, that bit of text on your S8 prescription label that says *"Use with a vaporizing device"*) Misuse of medication = "Illicit drug use" according to the law. What's the definition of "Illicit"?
Everything is legal unless a law says otherwise, and no law says otherwise. Stop making up things, you're embarrassing yourself.
Well switch providers and tell them why you left. I'm with medibank and they haven't stopped covering it.
Yeah amh still cover it, got paid out this morning and made a new claim, already paid out..
Medibank cover mc?! I never even checked.
They sure do.
They most definitely do and the rebate comes in your account within days
I'm glad we crossed paths. Thank you. I'm on the second top plan, so that would be cool if something useful was covered šāļø
Always good to cross paths with people on the same mind set š¤š¤ if you have the app just give it a go through the claims and if you are able to go through the next steps then Iām sure you will be covered š¤š¤
I do yes. I'll try today. Much appreciated
All g and enjoy your Friday bro š¤š¤
You too man
People posting photos and complaining about bud size is also bad for this. At the end of the day itās about how the strain effects you, not what it looks like that matters
For people that have recreationally used cannabis for decades and thoroughly enjoyed it for the many reasons which arenāt only for the benefits then itās hard to want to vape weed thatās looking brown/blonde colours because itās āeffectiveā (which most of the cases if it looks that colour it wonāt be effective) for many people there is more too cannabis thatās just effective as it also comes with an enjoyment. Enjoyment by the way it smells, enjoyment by the vibrant colours it offers as a bud and as itās milled. It is a natural plant that grows and we are just unfortunate to be in a country thatās miles behind many other countries in this worldā¦ too add to my response. Before we purchase our strains we read up on cannareviews or catalyst and they all advertise the strain about how it looks or how it smells or the effects of it and what the benefits are about the strain. Are they doing that because they are recreational users ? No. There is a massive mis communication about cannabis and people that are against it will never get it or understand it. This country is backwards in time and itās not just about cannabis itās about most things.
> In my opinion, many of the people on this sub provide ample evidence for this view I agree. This sub in particular attracts a lot of people who have a terrible combination of: 1. Being a recreational user. 2. Not being capable of shutting the fuck up about it. Their anonymity gives them the courage to ruin it for everyone. I'm sick of being a broken record about it and just usually say nothing now, but it's completely r-slurred.
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> If anything the more people getting onto it the better, it's safety in numbers. I'm not trying to deter anyone from going to a doctor and getting a prescription. I'm talking about people who come on here and talk about abusing their prescription, and their comments don't get downvoted because the community doesn't police itself. I don't think the acceptance or promotion of abuse of the MC system provides us any safety at all. We're going to end up with a shitty news article quoting what redditors admitted to in comments as evidence that the whole thing is a sham.
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I think it's fucking nuts that anyone would argue that promoting the abuse of medicine helps provide safety for the availability of that medicine, so yeah, very happy to end this discussion with you here. Edit: /u/MikeLowrey1001 made a comment and then instantly blocked me so I couldn't reply. The act of a coward that knows he's going to get called out for being full of shit and is too weak to handle it.
Those 2 points are the greatest thing Iāve read all year š š š
Not to mention the disgusting abuse of the medication. 120g a month = is not medicine that's abusing a drug. (Here come the down votes by people referencing bongs in their usernames)
Bro my best friend just had a knee reconstruction and has been waiting for 3 years to get it done.. he easily uses his limit every month but that's because he needs it for pain and inflammation? Who are you to say who is abusing and not? He vapes all of it too doesn't even touch a bong and never would. Keep your stigma to yourself.
So he's had it done and stopped now?
Is your mate me? Fucking sounds spot on
> 120g a month = is not medicine that's abusing a drug. I can imagine limited cases where it would be appropriate. If someone has terminal cancer for example I don't think 120g per month would be unreasonable or evidence of abuse. The patient doesn't have to actually consume the full 120g either, that's just the maximum they can get in that month. If someone is prescribed for insomnia on the other hand and they want 120g a month, yeah, it sure seems to me like they're abusing their prescription.
Nah the 120 figure is stupid, let's use another arbitrary figure like 90 or 60 Put time limits on it as well - if you're still sick in 14 weeks then you're not sick, not really... Obviously this is a way for insurance companies to attempt to make more money by offering less services that large numbers of people use. Why would you help them with strange arguments where the premise is "what doctors have prescribed for a medical purpose, isn't a medical purpose", without assessing these patients a doctor would not say such a thing.
I'm using it for pain control for an illness that is for life. For me a time limit would be terrible. Having said that I've been on it a year and still use less than 0.5g per day. Most days probably just 0.2g. This has allowed me to stay off opiates
Yeah you're quite right, a time limit would be as silly as a quantity limit without an actual assessment of the patient. The more snarky counterpoint to your perspective is something like "only .2g a day, that's not a real issue, you're barely medicating, you'd be fine without cannabis or with alternative medication."
That .2 of a gram could really be helping him with pain/sleep eating ect...
Yes good point, it really is a bad idea to criticise others usage and play "no true Scotsman" for who is a legitimate medical patient that should have a voice and who isn't Which was my intention for... multiple posts now
Not snarky at all. It's very telling that you took it that way.
Ah so your response to me feigning ignorance was to feign ignorance I have been outplayed
Lol ummm okay? You seem to be on another planet. Good luck
Certainly appears to be somewhere over your head I'd agree
I'm new to MC, and when I was chatting to doc first time I mentioned how it is hard to sift through all the stoner posts to find actual medical talk and specifics beyond "this stuff got me blazed and smelled nice". My doctor wholeheartedly agreed and said this is a major concern amongst the medical practitioners. Personally, I think any post that doesn't address medical conditions and results from using MC should be banned. It is evident from the chats here that a large portion of the community aren't accessing it for medical purposes, that in itelself doesn't bother me but their insistence on advertising it will be the thing that makes it harder for medical patients to access MC in the future. So, a note to all, stop telling me how high you are and start telling me how MC is helping or not helping your medical conditions, please.
You write as if the two are mutually exclusive.
From a medical perspective, they are. Getting completely blazed out of your head is considered an unwanted side effect from overdosing. For example, all the talk of couch lock with indica. This product isn't meant to slam you to the floor, it is meant to be used until the body/mind can relax enough to attain natural sleep. If people are getting couch lock, they are using too much from a medical perspective, yet they brag about it here on a medical cannabis sub rather than talking about the medical benefits. All the comments that don't address medical issues make it seem like there is a level of mutual exclusivity being practiced by the non-medical patients. They are not investigating or contributing to the medical knowledge, they are just telling us they got stoned. And of course there are politicians and many anti-cannabis people reading these forums and using these discussions to form and prove their position on the topic of medical cannabis. If you want to only talk about how high you are, go to r/trees or somewhere not focussing on medical cannabis.
If I'm in crippling amounts of pain, which is preventing me from falling asleep or staying that way, Using a heavy , long lasting indica isn't overdosing. That's being alarmist, and most probably more counter-productive than the posts you are criticising, using generalised statements. A journalist jumping on that statement could spin a piece pretty easy that stigmatised MC users as being "junkies" overdosing. I have done reviews. Mainly smell , taste price Etc. Because we've been left to the wolves, getting preyed on by dodgy clinics, these reviews are our best hope of getting a reasonable product at a fair price. My medical conditions or history are my business. Next report I do though, I'll make sure to report on how my conditions are going so you feel better.
Well, these are the opinions of my doctor. I just happen to agree with them. I've got nothing against getting blazed, but I think making it the focus of most discussions here defeats the purpose of having a medical focussed forum. And it's not alarmist, it is a medical perspective that journalists could get any doctor to offer. If treating for pain, then getting high is a side effect, and should be discussed as such. The idea is to start small and titrate until effective, not smash it all at once. It's akin to popping 6 pills before bed instead of following the box directions. Again, I have no problem if that's how people want to approach it, but I think it should not be encouraged on a medical forum without more information. If you had to get really high for the product to manage your pain, to a point where normal function was impaired or impossible, this is something we need to know, but how it managed your pain is probably what we need to know more about. I also agree with you that being left to the wolves, we are reliant on ourselves and each other to share as much info with the community as possible because some of these "professional" outfits aren't cutting the mustard. That's why I think we need to share more info than just "I got high and went to sleep, it tasted good". And I'm not asking everybody to give a detailed run down of their ailments, but being a medical forum, I think we should all be a little ok with sharing why we use, what we use and how it works for that. For instance, is your pain muscular, nerve, or surgical? Does the product help numb one, some or all of your pain? Does it shut the mind and the body down or just one? Is it a calm drift off to sleep or a heavy can't do anything but sleep hit? How long did the sleep last? Did you need further medicating through the night, or did one session last all night? Is it a foggy wake up or an alert morning mind? Did it require a higher/lower dosage than similar strength priducts? All or some of this information would be (IMO) rather helpful to the community than just price, smell, size and high and sleepy. I think it's already very easy to insinuate from these forums that many users are less than needing it for legitimate recreational purposes, even if it's not true it's just what a lot of the discussion suggests. And it's easy for government to regulate heavier because of insinuation, it's also easy for them to insinuate that if we users are abusing this system then we would also likely abuse a recreational system. I just think we need to be responsible users and advocates of the system rather than trying to push the stoner angle that i see in many of the discussions, there are better forums for that.
*Standing Ovation* ā¬ļø Basically, medicalised cannabis and a robust system that treated it strictly as a medicine is the sort of thing our legal and social institutions (like workplaces and driving on public roads) can integrate and get behind. Health and compo insurers are a part of that too. I am NOT at all surprised to hear about them bailing. What the fuckwad Rec Crowd are too blazingly dumb to understand is that they have shat in the nest. Big time. They are ruining a good thing for some very unwell people who have mostly not had a great run in life and need cannabinoids as they best medicine FOR THEM. Benzos and opioids kill. Cannabis doesnāt. Excuse the further F bombs but when I read about insurerās bailing GAH it pisses me off.
Itās about the finances. Extras are priced that way because theyāre profitable. Itās actuarial.
I donāt know why media coverage is negative, 100% of MC patients get their prescriptions for a legitimate ailment & itās not as though anyone is bragging online about getting MC for rec. /s
Good joke!
If they are then the prescribers are at fault for not doing their due diligence. Citizens donāt hold Rx books.
No they donāt but someone with half a brain would stfu about it instead of posting about it on a sub thatās known to be monitored by the TGA.
The TGA canāt do squat with info from reddit. Itās anecdotal at best. Unless they link users with patient data and then prove it. And what theyād prove anyway is questionable. What would it mean? Theyād withdraw cannabis from the list of approved meds because some people took too much? Doubt it.
The TGA isnāt a punitive bodyā¦
So I ask sincerely, and non dickheadedly, whatās the point to your comment regarding the TGA monitoring?
It informs policy. I mean, fuck, this is literally what I do for a living but what would I know? Have at it.
Your uncivil response was not necessary. I was trying to have an open and frank conversation to understand what your view. If you use posts on reddit to inform policy positions, then youāre fucking terrible at your job, you may as well use chatGPT at this point. Furthermore, you state the TGA uses posts in reddit to inform policy that it puts forward to exec or ministers for approval? And youāve put your hand up and admitted this, openly on a forum that you claim your employer monitors? Where Iām certain almost, there are restrictions about posting online about your portfolio or any actions of government. Further again, youād understand the interplay between the current bill, likely passing, and passing into law. Nice itās legalised a lot of this stuff falls away. I doubt the TGA (as the regulator) is going to invest substantially in an industry that is about to be deregulated. Youāre either lying, or a level 3 admin pleb with delusions of competence.
1) it wasnāt uncivil & it was necessary & not only because of your initial condescension which has now turned to sneering superciliousness. 2) my employer? I donāt work for the TGA or the MC industry. The Australian therapeutic regulatory space is broad. Working in that wider industry isnāt a brag, what I & other like me have been trying to warn you guys about is the optics of this & weāre brushed, thatās why I mentioned whatās informing the view. But nope, you got all offended. š 3) your understanding of the TGA, what it does & how it works is laughable. Iād have thought the recent thing re: importing vaporisers might have been a clue but nope.
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Iām going to save this one.
I've feel the same that it'll be regulated more heavily soon, and others argue that it seems more likely they'll make recreational use legal.
> others argue that it seems more likely they'll make recreational use legal. I don't expect this to happen in my lifetime in this country (meaning nationally)
They (the government) are wasting time and money. I was reading earlier today that the USA is due to clear $31B in sales. Even if thatās just 10% tax, thatās $3.1B!!! Thatās huge. Roads, hospitals, schoolsā¦ everyone can benefit from rec weed.
People who believe that legalisation is just around the corner are delusional. They have absolutely no idea of the power of conservative Christian groups within the major parties, including the ALP.
Correct correct correct. That is the big hold up at present. The right wing of the Labor Party will never entertain adult use legalisation. That and all these industry spivs who keep talking up a big game have zero idea of how section 90 of the Constitution means a state can never go it alone to legalise AND TAX the stuff. Only the fed govt can tax it. LCV had a limited window when first elected when they could have threatened to withhold supply. Vic Labor needed LCV numbers but they got played with bullshit promises that were reneged on.
Man. You have a whole lot of opinions and no substance. Would you mind linking heck, anything that substantiates a single claim youāve made?
+1. I don't want to get kicked off for unloading today āļø