Within the next 8 weeks, medical marijuana will finally be available to Australian sufferers of long-term or painful illnesses.
This marks the opening of a legal marijuana trade system in Australia.
Health Minister Greg Hunt announced yesterday that approved companies will be permitted to export cannabis oils and medications locally.
Last year, the federal parliament legalised medicinal cannabis for those patients who qualified for the prescription, however the legal market in Australia didn’t allow for the domestic trading of the drug.
Up until now, extremely sick patients would have to turn to the international black market to receive relief from their ailments, making it both a slow and dangerous process.
“We are now making it easier to access medicinal cannabis, while still maintaining strict safeguards for individual and community safety” Hunt told News Corp.
The plan is to have an Australian store of imported cannabis products within eight weeks.
On Friday, the office of Drug Control gave out its first cannabis license to the Australian company Cannoperations.
The Victorian government has revealed the first plants of their locally grown medicinal crops are now ready for harvest.
Not only does the domestic growth of the plants ensure a faster production and distribution, but it also mitigates the risk of rising prices.
Hunt said he is developing a sustainable national health plan, including a “rock solid support for Medicare”.
And this is just a friendly reminder that the recreational sale and use of marijuana is still illegal!
