You Can Now Apply to Grow Medicinal Weed in Australia

Soon you can watch an entire TV show about the legalisation of weed around the globe. WEEDIQUETTE comes to SBS VICELAND from November 15.

Medicinal marijuana advocates rejoiced back in February when federal parliament passed the Narcotic Drugs Amendment Bill 2016 to establish a nationwide Medicinal Cannabis Scheme. And now, as of Sunday, the Act has come into effect. Businesses are now able to apply for a licence to cultivate medicinal cannabis, manufacture medicinal cannabis products, or conduct medicinal cannabis-related research.

Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley said the commencement of the Act will mean that patients no longer need to rely on sourcing cannabis from overseas or illegal sources. This will also give patients and doctors access to a safe, reliable and legal source of cannabis for medicinal use.

"It is important that doctors have a wider range of options for treating their patients," she said in a media statement.

"Until now, it has been difficult for patients to access medicinal cannabis products from overseas sources…These new laws change that situation by providing for a domestic supply of medicinal cannabis products that are not readily available for import."

Of course, in order to get your hands on some of this homegrown medicinal weed, you'll have to live in a state which has legalised medicinal cannabis use. Victoria became the first Australian state to provide a legal framework for this in October 2015, and New South Wales followed suit. Yet while both states got in early, their laws are actually fairly restrictive. In Victoria, state-grown medicinal cannabis will only be available for children with epilepsy. In New South Wales, medicinal cannabis will be available only to adults with terminal illnesses.

In contrast, Queensland passed the most flexible medicinal cannabis laws in the country earlier this month. The state's Public Health (Medicinal Cannabis) Bill establishes two different pathways for medicinal cannabis treatment: one that gives specialist doctors the ability to prescribe medicinal cannabis to patients with certain conditions without state approval, and another that allows ordinary GPs to seek permission from a government body to prescribe cannabis for patients suffering from certain conditions.

The Queensland laws will come into effect in March 2017. Meanwhile, Western Australian parliament just passed a law to make it legal for doctors to prescribe medicinal cannabis from November 1, albeit under strict conditions. Tasmanian regulation laws, still to be established, will come into effect in April 2017.

According to the federal government, potential medicinal cannabis licensees "must pass strict fit and proper persons requirements and other legislative tests relating to security." It remains to be seen just how stringent these requirements will be.

If you're interested in applying, all the key information is available at the Office of Drug Control website. And yes, it's still totally illegal to grow marijuana for recreational purposes.

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