Australians suffering chronic illness are one step closer to accessing locally-grown cannabis under draft laws to enable safe and sustainable supply.
It will be interesting to see which direction this legislation goes and whether it will be an oligopoly of various big pharma businesses and therefore high prices for the medicine or something more organic and grass roots. I can't see the later happening, but that's what medicalmarijuana.com.au wants. 1$ a gram as in Uruguay, maybe $2 as this is Australia, one of the most expensive countries to live in.
Anyway, a bill to allow controlled cultivation of cannabis for medical and scientific reasons passed the lower house on Tuesday with bipartisan support and I guess that's a start.
"Controlled cultivation of cannabis" is the phrase in question.Will it be like in the UK and the company GW pharmacueticals (makers of Sativex) where the cannabis is grown in a military complex? and the cost of the medicine is exorbitant, more expensive than illegally purchased cannabis.

Several MPs recounted stories of Australians in their electorates whose chronic illnesses were aided by medical cannabis and who should be able to access the product more readily and safely.
If cannabis was a toxic substance, meaning there was a risk of overdose or death I could understand the concern for the "controlled cultivation" , but it's not! and that's a scientifically proven and anecdotally proven fact.
Do recreational cannabis users abuse cannabis? Yes!, but generally speaking it's through ignorance and yet even though it's abused, still no one dies as with alcohol, opiates and prescription drugs.
Recently, I was told by a friend that a dose of 20 aspirin in one go will kill you, but aspirin is available everywhere and to everybody.
Education and research on cannabis is what's needed, not the propaganda that's pervaded the public for the past 50 years. I might add, this propaganda was by the various governing bodies worldwide.

1)It doesn't cause mental health problems.
2) it's non-toxic and won't kill you.
3) It's very effective (based on anecdotal evidence) in a plethora of illnesses.
4) it can be and should be grown and sold in an organic form. WE don't need big Pharma!
5) and it should be cheap as in Uruguay so as to eliminate the criminal market! End the war on drugs, it's ridiculous, a waste of money, and causes more trouble than good.

“The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this.”
– Albert Einstein quote on Hemp....same applies to the war on drugs.

This is not about profits or it shouldn't be, this is a herb, not a drug and is completely safe, but we need to educate the public on how to use it, we need to be allowed to scientifically research it freely.


references from: http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/lower-house-tick-for-medical-cannabis-laws/news-story/085ce838854ea4948709560d456601a7

Originally published ( but extremely amended) as Lower house tick for medical cannabis laws