Australian government creates national scheme to regulate medical cannabis growers

By Karla Tecson

By removing the need for states and territories to implement individual cultivation schemes, legislation will be consistent across the country for growers, according to Minister for Health Sussan Ley. The Commonwealth would now oversee all regulatory aspects of the cultivation of medical cannabis through one national scheme.

The decision follows consultation with state and territory governments and law enforcement agencies over the past month. Legislation will be introduced in the first sitting period of 2016 to allow comments on the exposure draft to be considered in full over the next couple of months.

“Allowing controlled cultivation locally will provide the critical ‘missing piece’ for a sustainable legal supply of safe medicinal cannabis products for Australian patients in the future,” Ley said.

She noted that creating one single, nationally consistent cultivation scheme rather than eight individual arrangements will not only help speed up the legislative process but ultimately improve access to medicinal cannabis products as well. It would also ensure Australia's confidence of its compliance with international obligations under the United Nations’ Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs 1961, Ley added.

States and territories, law enforcement agencies and Federal parliamentarians will be provided with an exposure draft outlining the proposed legislative changes for further consultation from this week.

“We want to not only ensure these legislative amendments are rock solid, but that we can all work together to pass them in a bipartisan fashion as quickly as possible,” Ley said. "The important point is legislative changes are drafted and we’ve hit the start button for change," she pointed out.

Click here to read the full article.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.

Thumbnail: Flickr CC Moss