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If you have a legal* prescription for medical cannabis from a doctor, then you are able to travel with it. Travelling with prescribed medical cannabis should be no different from any other medication.
Planning ahead will reduce anxiety about carrying medical cannabis across borders and ensure you are following the laws of the country you are leaving.
THC is considered a Schedule 8 drug whilst CBD is a Schedule 4 drug. See the TGA for information about scheduling.
Each Australian state and territory has specific requirements about carrying Schedule 8 and other restricted medications across borders; some require a script written by a local medical practitioner to lawfully possess that product. Queensland and Tasmania have additional requirements for CBD products even though they are not Schedule 8 drugs.
If in doubt about what is required, contact your local state or territory health department.
Carrying medicinal cannabis interstate when travelling by plane has not been tested in a court of law, however, it is generally accepted that medicinal cannabis, as a prescribed medication in the original packaging, will be exempt from confiscation and prosecution for patients travelling between states.
There are very few restrictions about the medications or medical devices you can take out of Australia. It is important, however, to check if they are permitted to be brought into the country you are travelling to, as well as any country where you will be ‘in transit’. At this point in time it is difficult to fly internationally carrying medicinal cannabis, even if it has been prescribed, as it remains a restricted product in some countries.
Before you leave Australia you should contact the Embassy or Consulate of the countries you intend to visit. Each country has its own required documentation for customs clearance when carrying medicinal cannabis.
Always carry a letter from your doctor stating the name of the medicine, how much you are taking and that it is for your personal use. Keep the medicine in the original packaging for easy identification.
If you will be away for more than three months, ask your doctor about access overseas as not all medicines are available in all countries.
To bring any medical cannabinoid therapy into Australia for personal use you will require what is called a ‘Travellers Exemption’, meaning you must have a medical prescription from a medical practitioner. It is important to note that the standard of documentation for obtaining medicinal cannabis in some counties will not meet the Australian requirements. Foreign documents such as a ‘medicinal cannabis licence’ or a ‘documented recommendation’ will not be sufficient to bring the medicine into Australia.
It is important to keep the medication in the original packaging labelled by the dispensing pharmacist. A copy of the medical prescription should be carried with the medication. Up to three months’ supply may be brought into Australia for personal use and can be carried by the individual or a parent or carer. It is important to check how much medicinal cannabis can be taken out of the country from which you are departing.
Although you can bring three months’ worth of medicinal cannabis into Australia, you can only take one months’ worth out of Canada and nothing out of the United States of America.
Also, if you are ‘in transit’ in another country it is important to check the regulations about carrying medicinal cannabis; some countries have very strict laws which attract significant jail terms for possessing a drug that is not permitted in that jurisdiction.
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