Why is CBD Oil So Expensive?
- How Much Does CBD Oil Cost?
- Why is CBD Oil So Expensive?
- How Can CBD Oil Be Less Expensive?
- Does Medicare or Private Insurance Cover CBD Oil?
- Conclusion
Everyone in Australia is excited about the news about medicinal cannabis, and the great health benefits of CBD, but why is it so expensive?
Cannabidiol (CBD) is a cannabis extract. The cost of growing cannabis, and extracting medicinal grade CBD and providing oils to patients is very expensive. Government regulations, licenses, and pharmaceutical standards make the CBD manufacturing process more expensive.
Many factors come into the high cost of manufacturing medicinal CBD oil, including:
- the legal fees of CBD medicine
- CBD oil lab testing
- expensive cannabis oil extraction machines
- isolating medical-grade cannabis plants
- labour
And many other factors that contribute to the high cost of CBD oil.
Table of Contents.
How Much Does CBD Oil Cost?
After patients are finally approved access to medicinal marijuana, they are usually shocked to see the expensive cost of CBD oil.
The average cost of CBD oil per milligram (mg) is $0.15, and can go up to $0.55 per mg.
When you consider bottles of CBD oil to be 1000mg, we soon realise that CBD medicine is costly.
If a standard CBD oil tincture contains 500mg, then patients are likely to pay between $75 and $275 to fulfill one CBD prescription.
Why is CBD Oil So Expensive?
The cost of CBD oil starts before the cannabis plant is even in the ground.
The government regulations around the license to manufacture and produce CBD oil is very costly.
Expensive facilities, security, legal and expert horticulture, and medical staff need to be involved in being able to start legally growing cannabis.
CBD oil is expensive due to the high cost to legally manufacture medicinal CBD products for patients in Australia.
The cost for cannabis herb/flowers may be cheaper as it doesn’t require the expert extraction process needed to take cannabis oils out of the plant and then isolate the CBD compounds.
How Can CBD Oil Be Less Expensive?
The price of CBD can drop in the near future due the industry expanding and the government regulations relaxing.
Once the government regulations are relaxed, the process to acquire a license and manufacture medicinal marijuana will become less expensive.
Once more cannabis farming facilities open, the availability of medical-grade CBD oil will allow for more competitive prices.
The more cannabis grown in Australia and CBD oil extracted locally, the cheaper the prices will be for local patients.
Does Medicare or Private Insurance Cover CBD Oil?
Unfortunately, cannabis is not covered by Australia’s Pharmaceutial Benefits Scheme (PBS).
That means that the majority of private medical insurance health funds will not cover the expensive costs of CBD oil.
In the future, when CBD oil is added to the PBS, we can expect the expensive costs to be subsidised for medical marijuana.
Conclusion
So why is medicinal cannabidiol (CBD) oil so expensive in Australia?
The main reason is that medicinal cannabis is relatively new and expensive in Australia.
Licenses are hard to acquire; facilities and expert staff are expensive, and the overall process of growing cannabis to produce CBD oil is complicated.
CBD oil is so expensive because it is a new medicine in Australia with high costs involved.
The expensive CBD oil medicine is not subsidised by Australia’s PBS, and not covered by Medicare or private insurance health funds.
In the future, we hope to see medicinal cannabis and other CBD oil products to lower in price.
Until then, patients are stuck with the high costs of CBD oil, with no alternatives available.
Let us know your thoughts on the high price of CBD oil by leaving a comment below!
James King
James is an experienced writer and legal cannabis advocate in Australia. He answers all the questions about business, legalisation and medicinal cannabis.
Disclaimer: Cannabis Place are not doctors and we recommend consulting health professionals for accurate information. This site may contain information regarding drugs. This medicinal cannabis content is designed for an 18+ audience. Click here for our full disclaimer
