Australia Legalizes Medical Cannabis Cultivation

While Australia passed the Narcotic Drugs Amendment Bill in February, it didn’t go into effect until this past weekend.

The new law allows for organizations in Australia to cultivate and manufacture cannabis for scientific and medicinal purposes, once approved and licensed by the government. Businesses interested in growing cannabis will be required to pass a security test and submit information about their facility to ensure that it is on the up-and-up.

Susan Ley, Australia’s Health Minister said that the legislation will give patients safe and legal access to cannabis. “Until now, it has been difficult for patients to access medicinal cannabis products from overseas sources,” said Ley. “These new laws change that situation by providing for a domestic supply of medicinal cannabis products that are not readily available for import.”

ABC reports that hundreds of local and international businesses have registered for a license. If you are granted a license you are also permitted to conduct cannabis research.

It is definitely a step in the right direction, but the government wants to emphasize that this measure only covers medical cannabis and that recreational cannabis is still against the law.

“I want to emphasize that the changes to the Narcotic Drugs Act do not decriminalize cannabis for recreational use,” Ley said.

Also complicating matters is the fact that each state in Australia has its own medical cannabis regulations, meaning that any potential cultivator is still beholden to their specific state or territory as well. Victoria was the first state to decriminalize cannabis, but it appears that others are not far behind.