How Australia is set to become a world leader in growing medical marijuana

Australia is set to become a world leader in cannabis production with two companies launching a new marijuana cultivation business on home soil.

Sydney-based startup Greenfield MC struck a deal with US-Canadian company Emerald Plants Health Source (EPHS) to grow cannabis in Australia.

The deal will see the companies create a joint business called Greenfield MC Cultivation, Business Insider Australia reported.

The growing operation will produce enough cannabis to export to the Asia-Pacific market with 20 organisations confirmed by the Australian Office of Drug Control of having a licence.

The licence allows the organisations to cultivate medical cannabis, but it is currently unclear as to how many are growing it.

EPHS is licensed to produce cannabis in Canada and believes the expansion into the Australian market will become one of the largest in the world.

Vice president for strategy and business development at EPHS, Kevin Smith, said Australia was promising because of the country’s agricultural practices, crop safety management systems and robust quality control.

‘Australian-grown cannabis will be the envy of the global market and provide patients with confidence in this new form of medical treatment,’ Mr Smith said. 

‘We see Australia as the gateway to Asia, which it already is in various agricultural and pharmaceutical product categories.’ 

The location of the new operation is currently unknown, but Queensland’s Sunshine Coast is a frontrunner due to its ‘favourable climate and natural light-cycle’. 

Greenfield MC Cultivation is forecast to be operational by late 2020 and will open up 200 jobs in farming, lab work and security.

Australia is set to become a world leader in cannabis production with two companies launching a new marijuana cultivation business on home soil

Former oncologist at Monash Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Sree Appu, has recently joined the company as the chief medical officer and medical board chairman.

Mr Appu said people from ‘all walks of life’ are jumping on board the medicinal cannabis market, but warns product development conducted by professionals is critical.

‘While there’s already promising evidence for the use of medicinal cannabis for a range of health conditions, further product development needs to be underscored by clinical trials and real-world clinical knowledge,’ he said.      

The news comes after a number of Australians, including movie star and cancer sufferer Olivia Newton-John, called for the substance to be legalised as it helped treat a number of serious medical conditions.

The news comes after a number of Australians, including movie star and cancer sufferer Olivia Newton-John (pictured with her husband), called for the substance to be legalised 

OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN’S PUSH FOR LEGALISING CANNABIS

Movie star Olivia Newton-John has called for Cannabis to be legalised as it has helped the quality of her life.

The singing legend recently turned to marijuana, with her husband John Easterling growing it in the backyard of their Santa Barbara home in California.

Newton-John, who has reached stage four of her cancer which resulted in a tumour in her lower back, says she refuses to see the illness as a demon she has to fight. 

Before turning to the plant she described as a ‘safe alternative,’ the actress went through ‘months and months of excruciating, sleep-depriving, crying out loud pain’.

‘When I broke my sacrum, I was on morphine because the pain was intense,’ she said.

‘I was terrified of starting it because I know it’s a hard thing to ween off but I am now off it and I weened myself off it with cannabis.’

Newtown-John said she consulted the alternative treatment with her doctors, who supported her decision.

The actress and her husband are now campaigning for medicinal cannabis to be legalised so Australians can have better access to the plant.

‘It’s not a drug. You see, that’s the problem. That’s a name thrown around with cannabis – it’s a herb and a plant,’ she said.  

Newton-John has been combatting her illness with cannabis grown for her by her husband, John Easterling (pictured), in their Santa Barbara home in California