A report relating to a wide-ranging Senate inquiry into medicinal cannabis access issues in Australia has been published, with a number of recommendations made.

The inquiry was launched in November last year to determine barriers to patients accessing medicinal cannabis in the country. Submissions closed in January – a total of 146 submissions were made with everyone from patients and support groups to doctors and medical cannabis companies weighing in on the issues.

What the Committee found, while not surprising, was nonetheless disturbing.

The University of Notre Dame Australia’s Institute for Health Research (IHR) and MGC Pharma have announced publication of the study protocol for a clinical trial evaluating medical cannabis use with patients with dementia.

The trial was registered in the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trial Register (ANZCTR) earlier this week. The research project, which we again recently mentioned here on Hemp Gazette,  will delve into the effects of medicinal cannabis oil among those living in a residential aged care facility medically diagnosed with dementia.

In late 2019, a ruling by Italy's highest court struck down the prohibition against growing marijuana at home, ending a long legal dispute over that issue.

The court ruled that “at home, small-scale cultivation activities are to be considered excluded from the application of the penal code,” according to the New York Times.

THC Global is unique thanks to its world-class cannabis production facilities.

THC Global Group Limited is a vertically integrated farm to pharma diversified cannabis company with primary operations in Australia, as well as activities in New Zealand and Canada.

THC Global’s cannabis operations follow an integrated approach across research and development, cannabis cultivation, processing, and pharmaceutical grade GMP manufacturing.

Some Australians are now able to possess up to fifty grams of cannabis and grow two plants.

New laws, passed in the Australian Capital Territory in September, have now gone into action

The Australian Capital Territory government maintains it's not encouraging the use of cannabis, calling the laws an "evolutionary change".

But Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt remains unimpressed.

There’s a bit of exciting news regarding the prospects for cannabidiol (CBD) based products in Australia.

Cannabidiol is one of the many cannabinoids found in cannabis; both in marijuana and hemp. Some hemp varieties have been developed that have very high levels of CBD, but have hemp’s usually low tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) levels. THC is the intoxicating compound in cannabis, while CBD is non-intoxicating.

The fact that hemp can be a rich source of CBD is very beneficial as it gets around some ot the legal and other issues associated with its cousin, marijuana.

There’s a lot of activity on the Australian cannabusiness scene, but what is happening at the patient end of things? Statistics from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) indicate significant growth in approvals, but it wouldn’t even be touching the sides of potential demand.

Below are the numbers of approvals for unapproved products during 2019 via Category B of the Special Access Scheme (SAS).

The doctor-dope drought has broken.

Last year, news outlets reported that medicinal cannabis was “pretty much inaccessible”.

In May, The New Daily reported on a study that found few Australian doctors had the confidence and knowledge to prescribe the drug.

But new figures from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) show medical cannabis prescriptions are snowballing.

Read entire article here.

We have noticed a significant increase in the number of companies that are focused on the international cannabis opportunity during the last two years and this is a trend that we are bullish on.

Submissions for an Australian Senate inquiry into current patient access barriers to medicinal cannabis close today.

Announced in November 2019, the wide-ranging inquiry is delving into issues including the appropriateness of the current regulatory regime, delays in accessing products and will also examine international best practice models for patient access.

At the time of writing, eleven submissions had been noted; including from: