While medicinal cannabis is legal in Australia, the TGA "bans advertising of prescription medicine such as medicinal cannabis"Getty Images
National Rugby League club Dolphins were "forced to tape over their front-of-jersey sponsor Alternaleaf” -- a medicine clinic that prescribes medicinal cannabis -- on Friday after Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration "launched court proceedings against the sponsor’s parent company," according to Walsh & Proszenko of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. While medicinal cannabis is legal in Australia, the TGA "bans advertising of prescription medicine such as medicinal cannabis, or consultations for medical cannabis as part of a health service.” While the value of the Dolphins deal is not known, such arrangements “normally range” between US$450,891 and $644,130. In the Dolphins’ first game since the court proceedings -- against Parramatta Eels in Darwin -- the club “taped over Alternaleaf’s logo on the sternum of the players’ jerseys.” However, the tape had “fallen off most jerseys in the second half in the tropical heat.” The issue will "come to a head before the Dolphins’ next clash," against the Newcastle Knights at Suncorp Stadium next Sunday, as the club’s home grounds, Suncorp and Kayo stadiums, “usually display LED and static signage of their controversial sponsor” (
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 4/19).
