AUSTRALIA has the potential to be a forerunner in the global medicinal cannabis sector, with Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt yesterday confirming new regulations to allow the export of medical marijuana.
Hunt said the move would support the fledgling domestic medical cannabis sector, allowing it to scale operations and compete with overseas manufacturers on a level playing field.
However Australian patients are still the priority, with a condition of any licence authorising export being that medicinal cannabis products be made available to Australians first.
The move saw a significant increase in the share price of several locally listed medicinal cannabis suppliers, including Cann Group which is currently the only commercial player in Australia cultivating medicinal cannabis.
Cann ceo Peter Crock told Pharmacy Daily allowing exports would enable the company to significantly ramp up operations.
A recent $78 million capital raising will see investment in new cultivation facilities, he said, seeing Cann "set up on a global scale".
However he stressed the importance of simplifying patient access to medicinal cannabis within Australia, with current disparate regulations in each state and territory making the landscape difficult for patients and doctors.
"Harmonisation across the states is vital," he said.
Minister Hunt said the government was continuing to make it easier for doctors to access medicinal products more rapidly, "while maintaining strict safeguards for individual and community safety.
"We want a robust Australian medicinal cannabis industry so that doctors have safe, quality domestic products that they can confidently prescribe to their patients," he said.
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