A Hunter Valley company preparing to legally sow 1500 cannabis plants believes Australia could become world leaders in cultivation of and research into medical cannabis.
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Director of Folium Industries Mark Smith said he and managing director Nathan Ison’s company was the only one in the state to have a licence under the 2008 Hemp Act to cultivate and supply hemp low in the mind-altering substance THC for all three permitted purposes; commercial production; use in manufacturing; and scientific research.
Mr Smith, who has a horticulture background, said he also believed it to be the only company in the state growing a strain high in cannabidiol, a compound that does not produce a high and has been linked to treatment of seizures and neurological disorders.
“We’re doing this because we believe in hemp and cannabis’ ability to heal the planet and people,” he said. “We’ve invested more than a half a million dollars to this, to extract the bulk raw oil. “We want to see that oil used in trials for people with epilepsy and who have cancer.” Mr Smith said the 1500-plant trial crop would be harvested in between eight and 10 weeks, but hurdles remained to getting it into the hands of those who arguably needed it most.
He said current legislation meant Folium Industries could only sell to manufacturers, which had led to talks about supplying the oil for pet food, skin cream and dietary supplements. Licences to grow cannabis for medicinal purposes are unlikely to be available until later this year.
The federal government recently passed legislation to make the Commonwealth Department of Health the single, national regulator for the cultivation of cannabis for medicinal and related scientific purposes.
“Licences to grow cannabis for medicinal and related scientific purposes will not be available until the Commonwealth Government legislation, and its associated regulations, are in place,” a Department of Primary Industries spokesperson said.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration has also not yet rescheduled medicinal cannabis from a prohibited drug to a controlled drug.
“It’s very difficult, we have been approached [by those who want the oil for medicinal purposes],” Mr Smith said. “But we don’t want to risk our licence and the potential to be part of this industry.”
Mr Smith said his company had put its hand up to collaborate with government, researchers and other farmers to develop legislation that would avoid tangles he said had proved problematic in the United States.
“Australia produces 52 per cent of the world’s opioids and we could also be a world leader in cannabis.”
“We have a good chance to have a very innovative industry here, but we don’t want to be controlled by big pharmaceuticals and see genetically modified plants.
“We’d like to create a supply chain for people to access it quickly, where we sell to organic, local companies.”