Somerset man Dion Lane pushes for PBS to cover medicinal cannabis

Because for his condition, medicinal cannabis is not covered under the federal government's pharmaceutical benefits scheme (PBS), which the opioid painkillers were.

By every other measure, Mr Lane says legally obtained cannabis oil and flower is an improvement over the opioids he was using for years to manage his severe back pain.

But at more than $100 per week, the 56-year-old disability pensioner said he can only afford to eat once a day when paying for the medicine, let alone the other things he needs fund in his life.

The PBS does cover medicinal cannabis in some circumstances, but Mr Lane would like to see it expanded so people like him who are trying to avoid opioids can do so sustainably.

Comment has been sought from the federal health department.

Mr Lane was placed on opioid painkillers after suffering a severe spinal injury while rock fishing in Burnie three years ago.

"I got a bit excited when I got salmon on and I went head first down the rocks towards the ocean," he said.

"It was pretty bad."

He said that for about two and a half years he was taking more than 300 pills per fortnight to manage the pain, in addition to other medication he needed.

Such a heavy dose rendered him unable to live his life properly, but also unable to tell how heavily the drugs were affecting him.

"My family and friends were telling me I was vague but because I was on the opioids I wouldn't have a bar of it. But things weren't getting done.

"I was forgetting stuff all the time. I couldn't function properly."

When he eventually told his doctor he did not want to be on opioids, they said he could access medicinal cannabis and so he did.

"It has just changed my life. As far as mobility and function goes it is so much better. I'm so much clearer in the head now."

But the cost is prohibitive. And Mr Lane is baffled that it is not included in the PBS, because he said chronic pain sufferers are being encouraged to avoid opioids because of the side effects, but that is the more affordable drug.

"At the moment I would still prefer to pay for it myself than be on opioids, because that is just the pits that is."

Things got so bad for Dion that he quit the opioid painkillers "cold turkey", and during the days of severe withdrawals that followed he bought cannabis illegally for the pain.

Shortly after, he was pulled over while driving and registered a positive oral fluid result, and ended up before the Burnie Magistrates Court.

Mr Lane asked Magistrate Katie Edwards for leniency as he was now on medicinal cannabis instead of opioids, and she imposed the mandatory minimum penalty of a three-month licence suspension.

He accepted that ruling, and had chosen to not register his car to save some money in the coming months.

But it would be a burden, as his injury prevented him from walking too far, and one of his main physiotherapies involved spending time at the beach.

To avoid needing to undergo surgery, Mr Lane had developed an exercise routine with his therapist alongside his prospecting hobby.

"It saves you an hour physio a day when your physio can teach you the movements doing what ever you love doing outside," he said.

"I'm out in the air getting fit and healthy."