Legalising medical cannabis sounds great, if you can afford it

[lookinggoodguys]

http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/other-industries/legalising-medical-cannabis-sounds-great-if-you-can-afford-it/news-story/60ee23bfa8ee31c7a816d598efa44328

 

 

AUSTRALIA is about to see an explosion of capital investment in a product that, up until recently, has been the domain of the criminal underworld.

After years of lobbying by doctors, cancer patients and parents of sick children, medical cannabis has finally been legalised.

And with the ink still drying on the Federal Government’s laws, key players are ready to pounce on what is tipped to become a billion-dollar industry (once state laws catch up, and a national regulator is established).

But for Australians already buying cannabis under murky legal conditions, the impact of the new legal industry remains uncertain.

 

Canadian company Tilray is about to embark on the world’s biggest clinical trial of marijuana’s impact on chemotherapy patients in partnership with the NSW Government and the University of Sydney.

If all goes well, the company is looking to import cannabis products from its state-of-the-art facility on Vancouver Island, where it grows and extracts the product that has spawned a $250 billion global industry, and establish a plantation on Australian soil.

 

 

“In Australia, we think that medical cannabis has potential to be a billion-dollar industry, and can create thousands of skilled jobs and generate tens of millions of dollars in foreign investment,” the company’s global president Brendan Kennedy told news.com.au.

“We hope to invest significant capital in Australia in coming years ... We intend to break ground on an Australian facility in the next 12 months.”

 

Tilray’s hi-tech Canadian greenhouse has 100,000 plants and 50 different strains of cannabis, which its team of botanists and biochemists cultivate for their different medicinal properties.

 

But for Bendigo mum Cheri O’Connell, the medicine she needs for 10-year-old Tara is closer to home — and a hell of a lot cheaper.

Tara, who has a life-threatening form of epilepsy called Dravet syndrome, used to have up to 200 seizures a day and was expected to die before her ninth birthday.

“Now she’s walking, talking, running, reading — all those things that we just never thought possible,” Ms O’Connell said.

 

 

Her recovery began in 2013 when she started taking a tincture made from THCA, a non-psychoactive cannabinoid extracted through a process developed by Nimbin identity Tony Bower through years of trial and error.

Ms O’Connell pays $30 for a month’s worth of the product. She has looked at the prices of medical cannabis products available in the United States and found they cost up to $2000 a month.

 

She fears regulation will push up the price of the product that has allowed her family a normal life — or worse.

Mr Bower, who has been distributing his products to the ill and infirm for more than a decade through his business Mullaways Medical Cannabis, argues he can make the pain-relieving tinctures more cheaply than big pharma.

“We have something in Australia that we know works,” he told news.com.au.

While Mr Bower’s products have not been chosen for a clinical trial, his customers swear by it — and, without an affordable option, “will just keep getting it illegally”, he said.

 

Aside from the cost, parents live with the ever-present fear of an education department crackdown.

Tara has to take her medicine several times during the school day, and this has already seen her excluded from a special needs school.

 

“We have the knowledge that, at any time, if the education department or anyone up the chain says ‘sorry we can’t do it at school anymore’, then she’ll be home schooled,” Ms O’Connell said.

Mr Bower, who has raised $10 million from private investors to set up five shade houses with 600 plants, said he was considering a move to Victoria, where he believes the approval process may be quicker.

 

 

Cardiologist Dr Ross Walker, who recently became a director of mining-turned-cannabis company MGC Pharmaceuticals, said getting cannabis products onto the PBS could take years.

Dr Walker, who describes cannabinoids as “the next big thing in medicine”, said he hoped the process could be expedited in order to get the medicine to those who need it.

“I’ve seen three patients in the last two days who I think would be highly suitable for medical cannabis,” he said.

“One girl with very serious breast cancer, and another person with severe pain where they’re just not getting any relief from the current therapy available. And another person with pain. I just think it’s dreadful that we can’t offer these things to people.”

 

MGC, an Israeli company that relisted on the Australian Stock Exchange last week after being bought out by Erin Resources, operates a cannabis growing and extraction facility in Slovenia where it makes skin care products and cosmetics containing a non-psychoactive extract called Cannabidoil (CBD).

The company plans to grow cannabis locally once the regulatory system has been set up.

Both MGC and Tilray will offer cannabis products on a compassionate use basis, through the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s special access scheme. This will allow a small number of seriously ill patients to access the drugs at a lower cost.

 

The Federal Health Department says in a statement on its website: “The Government wants to ensure that Australians get access to the most effective medical treatments that are available, but it is important to ensure we follow the principles of evidence-based medicine.

“The Government has a duty to ensure that any therapeutic product, including medicinal cannabis, is a safe and effective treatment for public use, and also meets the manufacturing standards that the Australian public expect.”

Edited March 4, 2016 by lookinggoodguys

[Sir PsychoHashy]

Thanks for posting LGG.  Interesting read, but all it does is further cement my cynical view of what's happening as being all about politics and big money, rather than geniune compassion.  Really hoping a story will come out one day that makes me think that I've been completely wrong.

 

The Tony Bowers thing is a classic example of what gets to me, a great generous guy who's been going out of his way for years to help people without profiting from them, and putting himself at constant legal risk in the process, and now it looks highly likely that he will be kept out of any medicinal cannabis activity that occurs in this country.  But various big corporations are all circling like vultures safe in the knowledge that it's being set up for them to take advantage.  Wouldn't surprise if that fucking vulture The Don somehow manages to slime his way into it though.

 

Am I the only one that read pharma only from the statement - “The Government wants to ensure that Australians get access to the most effective medical treatments that are available, but it is important to ensure we follow the principles of evidence-based medicine. “The Government has a duty to ensure that any therapeutic product, including medicinal cannabis, is a safe and effective treatment for public use, and also meets the manufacturing standards that the Australian public expect.”?

[merl1n]

Why is it that this bloody govt has to reinvent the fuckin wheel. The studies have already been done elsewhere using plant material and not some bloody concoction made in a lab.

WHY????

Some people need this "Medication" NOW!!!! Not in 2-5 years time when big pharma can prove in a lab that they need it now. Yes, we need quality. So let us grow our own. I do not want chemical crap in my smoke. I want quality and I grow my own quality smoke that meets my needs, chemical free. Simply allow me the right to grow my own medication without fear of prosecution, Allow me to control the environment I grow in. Allow me the right to control my pain, my way. And piss big pharma off out of the equation altogether.

 

Someone is going to make a dollar out of all this, that is guaranteed. But for those of us who can grow for self, we should be allowed to do so. By the govt allowing me to do so I could be saving them thousands from the PBS scheme and I'm only one person, with the amount of pills, tablets and potions I'm now being prescribed, hell I rattle when I walk. I have thousands of dollars worth of meds prescribed each month. With canna I can 1/2 that bill. The mob in Canberra now are all about the sacred $$$$$ and yet cannot see the benefits.

 

It's just bizarre.

 

So for now, I'll continue being a 'criminal' and grow my own medication. Then when BIG pharma can prove I'm right and I do receive a benefit.....

.... OH Hell, it'll be too late by then. I'll be DEAD before that happens.

CHRIST, THIS PISSES ME OFF!!!!!! It truly does not need to be this bloody difficult. Does it?????

 

Merl1n

[JackPower]

This might be the perfect time for a " cliche" like............

Every great journey starts with a small step.

I look at it like, its a start and considering in the past anything associated with the wicked herb was seen as criminal, illegal and wrong, so at least we're headed in the right direction. ( Ha! See what I did there? Headed )

Believe me when I say, that there are many more individuals, groups and corporations looking to invest and be involved in the industry

[JackPower]

Anyone else feel like investing in the stock market? When did current affairs become advertising he asks rhetorically.

After reading the article I couldn't help thinking that shares on the stock market related to this new industry are going to boom at some stage. [emoji111]

[lookinggoodguys]

My take is that the Government basically want a product produced that doesn't get people stoned or look like raw cannabis buds, so ethically they can say that it is derived from cannabis but is a totally different product that is so called safe. We will research the bejesus out of it, make lots of synthetics and potions and all the medical grade raw cannabis produced in Australia will end up being shipped overseas to Canada and other countries without us seeing any of it. 

 

So unfortunately ordinary citizens wanting raw cannabis heads will still need to continue breaking the law for another decade or more, while the Government cashes in on Pharma medical cannabis and the criminal gangs continue to profit... So yes Hashy you cynical view is 100% correct and nothing has really changed.

Edited March 4, 2016 by lookinggoodguys

[brick]

University of NSW = NCPIC. So it will be fucked up before it even starts! I'm with you Merlin. My cynical self says big stuff up coming here. 

[gippy]

I think home growing could potentially be allowed which would let us seek out a personalised medicine on our own dime but the government is too shit scared of lost profits to allow that to happen.  We could agree to a licensing system, weekly inspections, limiting our floor space or plant numbers, allowing asio to setup shop next to the grow area to make sure we don't cheat the system, etc. but it wouldn't matter.  They'll argue the law says we have to protect the kids so it needs to be grown in secure facilities or some such bullshit like that and anyone who says otherwise must be a kid hating junkie that just wants to smoke drugs.  If that doesn't work they'll say that we can't have standardised dosing like they'll be able to produce, our products will be prone to abusive consumption methods like smoking, etc. basically it'll be a product safety thing and again think of the children.  Last line of defense will be saying that having thousands of growers will be a nightmare to enforce and it will cost tax payers more than a centralised system of a few growers would.  After that they'll just ignore our pleas and then make the recreational side as legal as tobacco is now so that when they finally open their mouths again they'll simply ask why we're trying to be tax dodgers?, hurt the planet with our inefficient growing methods and poisons?, etc.  and personally I think unless we make home growing as trendy as home brewing the public will support them and we'll forever remain criminals.  If we can prove to a lot of people with medicinal needs that they can grow a cheaper and better product for themselves right now instead of waiting for sub-par legal garbage the battle to keep us criminals for growing a harmless plant will be a hard sell for any politician because they'll be telling patients to pay higher prices for an inferior medicine or go to prison and good luck with that.

 

Now wouldn't be a bad time to share seeds/cuttings with those in our lives that were waiting for legality to use cannabis

[Sir PsychoHashy]

Why is it that this bloody govt has to reinvent the fuckin wheel. The studies have already been done elsewhere using plant material and not some bloody concoction made in a lab.

 

CHRIST, THIS PISSES ME OFF!!!!!! It truly does not need to be this bloody difficult. Does it?????

 

Merl1n

 

Because they want a tightly controlled wheel which only spins in the selected circle that benefits only select groups.  It's not how democracy is meant to work, but it's certainly how government works.  And it pisses me off as well.

 

This might be the perfect time for a " cliche" like............

Every great journey starts with a small step.

I look at it like, its a start and considering in the past anything associated with the wicked herb was seen as criminal, illegal and wrong, so at least we're headed in the right direction. ( Ha! See what I did there? Headed )

Believe me when I say, that there are many more individuals, groups and corporations looking to invest and be involved in the industry

 

I really wish I could be positive enough about it to think that way Jack, but I see a pre planned journey with a set destination based around big pharma and corporations, and when governments do the work of those entities they tend to protect them into the future, which means not allowing people to bypass the system.  So I'm seeing it as more of a big barrier to us ever completing the journey we are on.

 

My take is that the Government basically want a product produced that doesn't get people stoned or look like raw cannabis buds, so ethically they can say that it is derived from cannabis but is a totally different product that is so called safe. We will research the bejesus out of it, make lots of synthetics and potions and all the medical grade raw cannabis produced in Australia will end up being shipped overseas to Canada and other countries without us seeing any of it. 

 

So unfortunately ordinary citizens wanting raw cannabis heads will still need to continue breaking the law for another decade or more, while the Government cashes in on Pharma medical cannabis and the criminal gangs continue to profit... So yes Hashy you cynical view is 100% correct and nothing has really changed.

 

Yep, the pharma angle takes care of that people getting stoned part, which is what they need to do politically to appease the various anti canna lobby groups, so that's the political side.  Plus they get the added bonus of being able to help rich and powerful friends make more money, which ends up meaning more bribes, sorry, did it again, I mean political donations.  It's a lovely neat circle which 99% of society is kept the fuck out of.

 

Problem is I think something has changed, but in the wrong direction, as they now have a bunch of new vested interests in keeping canna highly illegal.

 

University of NSW = NCPIC. So it will be fucked up before it even starts! I'm with you Merlin. My cynical self says big stuff up coming here. 

 

It helps to have the people doing research if you know they are going to come up with the results you want.

 

I think home growing could potentially be allowed which would let us seek out a personalised medicine on our own dime but the government is too shit scared of lost profits to allow that to happen.

 

I don't, I believe this is going to set that back due to vested interests, and also give political excuses to maintain it's illegality, statements like "patients can get tried and tested safe pharma products, so there is no need for raw cannabis" etc.  I also believe that they will cherry pick facts and statistics from states in the US that have legalised med and rec canna to show how bad it has been, and compare it to our tightly controlled pharma model as further justification.

 

I could dribble on about the need for people to have the right to self medicate, and the urgency for medicinal canna in this country etc, but it's all been said before.  But I will say that I feel just as passionate about legalising recreational cannabis use (plus some out there views on all drugs), and that I believe it has to be done in order for a genuine medicinal canna industry to achieve good outcomes. 

 

It's a mainstream recreational drug in Australia, last I heard it was something like 30% of the adult population (don't quote me on that stat, and I think it was age bracketed) have consumed it recreationally.  If a non loaded referendum question was put to the Australian voting public on legalising it, I believe it would pass easily, so in a true democracy it would be legal, but we know that doesn't mean shit, gay marriage is a classic example. 

 

So yeah, I'm pissed off, because I'm seeing something being presented in the guise of pro medicinal cannabis which seems to be a massive backwards step and a barrier to any future progress on anything to do with cannabis in our once wonderful country. 

[Jagged]

Why is it that this bloody govt has to reinvent the fuckin wheel. The studies have already been done elsewhere using plant material and not some bloody concoction made in a lab.

WHY????

Some people need this "Medication" NOW!!!! Not in 2-5 years time when big pharma can prove in a lab that they need it now. Yes, we need quality. So let us grow our own. I do not want chemical crap in my smoke. I want quality and I grow my own quality smoke that meets my needs, chemical free. Simply allow me the right to grow my own medication without fear of prosecution, Allow me to control the environment I grow in. Allow me the right to control my pain, my way. And piss big pharma off out of the equation altogether.

 

Someone is going to make a dollar out of all this, that is guaranteed. But for those of us who can grow for self, we should be allowed to do so. By the govt allowing me to do so I could be saving them thousands from the PBS scheme and I'm only one person, with the amount of pills, tablets and potions I'm now being prescribed, hell I rattle when I walk. I have thousands of dollars worth of meds prescribed each month. With canna I can 1/2 that bill. The mob in Canberra now are all about the sacred $$$$$ and yet cannot see the benefits.

 

It's just bizarre.

 

So for now, I'll continue being a 'criminal' and grow my own medication. Then when BIG pharma can prove I'm right and I do receive a benefit.....

.... OH Hell, it'll be too late by then. I'll be DEAD before that happens.

CHRIST, THIS PISSES ME OFF!!!!!! It truly does not need to be this bloody difficult. Does it?????

 

Merl1n

 

Yeah fuck the pharma narcos they didnt want the weed, give it over to entrepreneurs and people that have a love for the herb have it just like home brew, carlton united have never been sent broke by the home brew industry.