Australia has a growing medical cannabis market. The benefits of medical cannabis only reach the elite upper classes of society who themselves are responsible for global cannabis prohibition, so it is quite ironic. I sincerely doubt if any significant numbers from the aboriginal tribes of Australia ever get access to this medical cannabis. They, more likely, end up in prison for growing, possession and use of a herb that traditionally belonged to them until it was prohibited, while the elites use the same cannabis saying that their own use is different, justifying it as medical. Australia has moved cannabidiol (CBD) to its Schedule 3 meaning it can be procured without a prescription. Australia has recently seen an increase in the number of persons registering as cannabis patients for the use of medical cannabis. MJBizDaily reported in August 2020 that 'Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) added more than 5,500 patient approvals in July for unapproved medicinal cannabis products – the biggest one-month gain on record. July’s figure is 20% higher than June’s 4,630 approvals. Australia has one of the biggest federally regulated medical marijuana markets outside North America, but it’s still considered nascent.' The increase in numbers of people opting for cannabis as medicine is seeing month on month increases. MJBizDaily reported in September 2020 that 'Roughly 5,270 patients were approved for medical cannabis treatment in Australia in August via the SAS Category B pathway, the second month in a row the country recorded more than 5,000 individual approvals. The August figure represents a 5% drop from the previous month. But the number is more than 17% higher than the average monthly approvals seen in the previous five months, showing a positive trend.' Hemp Industry Daily reports that 'Regulators at Australia’s Ministry of Health are one step closer to allowing over-the-counter sales of cannabidiol products. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) said Wednesday it reached an interim decision to amend the country’s Poisons Standard and down-schedule CBD to a Schedule 3 product in oral, oral mucosal and sublingual formulas for therapeutic use. In Australia, CBD is currently a Schedule 4 substance, which makes it available only with a prescription.' Speaking about the exponentially increasing medical cannabis market in Australia, MJBizDaily reported in September 2020 that 'Australia’s market for medical cannabis is expected to triple this year to about AU$95 million ($70 million) in product sales, according to a new report published by North Sydney-based data firm FreshLeaf Analytics. However, FreshLeaf said it analyzed 37 companies vying for less than 100,000 prescriptions, concluding that “the Australian cannabis market is saturated and that the current product growth trajectory is unsustainable.”'
The momentum in Australia's medical cannabis market saw the arrival of global players like GW Pharmaceuticals, who have vested interests in keeping recreational cannabis prohibited so as to boost their own cannabis product sales, as we have seen in the US. MJBizDaily reported in September 2020 that 'GW Pharmaceuticals’ plant-derived CBD drug Epidyolex received approval from Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to be used in treating seizures related to Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome for patients 2 and older. The approval is the third major global regulatory approval for Epidyolex, GW said in a news release. “The TGA approval is further proof that cannabis-based medicines can successfully go through extensive randomized placebo-controlled trials and a rigorous evaluation process to reach patients who need them,” GW Chief Operating Officer Chris Tovey said in a statement.' Medical cannabis brings in, along with it, all the dubious players associated with the pharmaceutical industry, including medical insurance companies. MJBizDaily reports that ''“An insurance company has finally figured out they can attract more customers by advertising their cannabis coverage.” The Health Insurance Fund (HIF) will offer rebates for Little Green Pharma’s medical cannabis products up to 105 Australian dollars ($76) per prescription. The deal “represents the first time a major Australian health fund has publicly declared its support for access to medicinal cannabis treatments,” the insurance company noted in a news release.' The medical industry also does its bit to promote medical cannabis while opposing the true universal healthcare benefits that complete legalization of cannabis will bring. News.Com Australia reports that '“The shift to over-the-counter is a huge stepping stone in reducing stigma and encouraging wider societal acceptance around medical cannabis,” Cannabis Doctors Australia (CDA Clinics) founder and clinical director, Dr Ben Jansen, told news.com.au in a statement, adding the move will facilitate better access to those who can benefit from it. “Stigma is slowly continuing to change as education and information starts to outweigh ignorance and mistruths. 80 year of false stigma takes time to change.”' This is because medical cannabis selling cannabis as a pharmaceutical medicine enables physicians to thrive along with pharma companies through cannabis just like they do with all synthetic pharmaceutical medicines.
The stance of the majority of physicians in Australia, however, continues to be similar to that of physicians worldwide who are clueless about cannabis, because cannabis is much more than medicine, and because these people have only been trained on western synthetic pharmaceutical drugs that makes their profession profitable and meets the needs of their upper-class clients, the people who matter. ABC News reports '"This isn’t about patient care, it's about a political stand," he said. "From a doctor's point of view what we support is a proper investigation into medicinal cannabis for its clinical indications, how safe it is, how effective it is. "Let’s see the evidence that ... more people should be prescribing it." Dr Duncan-Smith said that there were better, more effective, and more evidence-based drugs than pharmaceutical cannabis. "A doctor is going to prescribe a well-recognised effective drug over and against a socially popular … drug."'
Law enforcement in Australia also mirrors the pig-headedness of its counterparts in the US. For these entities, it is all about protecting the interests of the white man and the industries that make him rich and retain control over the land and the people. The Riot Act reports 'A proposal to decriminalize various amounts of drugs including cocaine, heroin, acid and MDMA would mean police are “busier” and could see the ACT become a target for organized crime, a parliamentary committee has been told this week. Speaking at a Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs committee earlier this week, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw said the experience of overseas jurisdictions had shown there were many consequences to the decriminalisation of the drugs, including ‘narco-tourism’.' If law enforcement supported cannabis legalization globally, instead of vehemently opposing it, then every nation would have its own cannabis, reducing the need for people to travel to other countries to access cannabis, or 'narco-tourism' as law enforcement calls it.
The government too has been taking measures to support the medical cannabis industry. MJBizDaily reported in February 2021 that 'Australia has proposed amendments to the Narcotic Drugs Act that would overhaul the medical cannabis industry by streamlining the licensing process for businesses and ensure access for patients.' MJBizDaily reported in July 2021 that 'The grant is part of Australia’s AU$50 million Manufacturing Modernization Fund, which offers funding to help small- and medium-sized manufacturing businesses scale up and compete internationally. MediPharm Labs Australia Pty, the recipient of the grant, will use the funding for its Manufacturing Innovation and Capacity Optimization Project, according to the government announcement. The project carries a total price tag of AU$1.9 million. “Current operations have been focused on purified cannabis API development, which includes raw material extraction and cannabis oil purification. With increasing number of customers both domestically and internationally MediPharm Labs needs to increase its throughput of finished goods manufacturing,” a spokesperson for MediPharm in Australia told MJBizDaily via email.'
The increased use of cannabis for medical purposes in Australia has resulted in a significant amount of research around the benefits of cannabis as medicine in the country. NORML reports that 'Adults who consume cannabis to treat a medical condition overwhelmingly say that it improves their symptoms, according to survey data published in the Harm Reduction Journal. Researchers surveyed over 3,300 Australian adults who self-identified as medical cannabis consumers. Seventy-three percent of respondents said that they primarily consumed prescription cannabis products. (Australian law permits physicians to prescribe cannabis products to patients unresponsive to conventional treatments.) Twenty-seven percent of respondents acknowledged accessing cannabis, primarily from the unregulated market. Survey participants predominantly consumed either cannabis flower or oral extracts. Patients typically used cannabis to address pain, mood disorders, or sleep disorders. Ninety-seven percent of those surveyed said that their condition “was a little, much, or very much better since starting medical cannabis,” – a finding that is consistent with the results of prior surveys and observational trials.' Regarding another study in Australia, NORML reports 'A team of Australian investigators assessed the safety and efficacy of oral cannabinoid formulations (either tinctures of capsules) containing various ratios of THC and CBD in 198 patients with anxiety disorders. The median doses consumed by study participants were 50.0 mg/day for CBD and 4.4 mg/day for THC. (Australian law permits physicians to authorize cannabis products to patients unresponsive to conventional prescription treatments.) Researchers reported, “The total participant sample reported significantly improved anxiety, depression, fatigue, and ability to take part in social roles and activities.” Among the subset of subjects diagnosed specifically with post-traumatic stress, cannabis therapy similarly “improved anxiety, depression, fatigue, and social abilities,” with CBD-dominant formulations exhibiting the greatest efficacy.' NORML reports that 'Patients frequently report consuming cannabis to treat sleep-related issues, particularly insomnia, according to survey data published in the journal Nature and Science of Sleep. Researchers affiliated with the University of Sydney surveyed 1,600 Australians regarding their use of medical cannabis. Sixty-four percent of those surveyed acknowledged consuming cannabis to mitigate symptoms of a sleep disorder, typically insomnia. Most respondents said that cannabis greatly improved their sleep quality. A majority of respondents also said that they decreased their consumption of benzodiazepines and alcohol following their use of cannabis – a finding that is consistent with other studies. Those who reported consuming cannabis were most likely to acknowledge using THC-dominant cannabis products.' MDPI reports the investigation into the use of cannabis for treating cancer in Australia. It says, 'Melanoma is the fourth most common type of cancer diagnosed in Australians after breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers. While there has been substantial progress in the treatment of cancer in general, malignant melanoma, in particular, is resistant to existing medical therapies requiring an urgent need to develop effective treatments with lesser side effects. Several studies have shown that “cannabinoids”, the major compounds of the Cannabis sativaL. plant, can reduce cell proliferation and induce apoptosis in melanoma cells. Despite prohibited use of Cannabis in most parts of the world, in recent years there have been renewed interests in exploiting the beneficial health effects of the Cannabis plant-derived compounds. Therefore, the aim of this study was in the first instance to review the evidence from in vivo studies on the effects of cannabinoids on melanoma. Systematic searches were carried out in PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and ProQuest Central databases for relevant articles published from inception. From a total of 622 potential studies, six in vivo studies assessing the use of cannabinoids for treatment of melanoma were deemed eligible for the final analysis. The findings revealed cannabinoids, individually or combined, reduced tumor growth and promoted apoptosis and autophagy in melanoma cells.'
Hemp food products are said to be legal since 2018. The use of cannabis for industrial purposes is also seeing a growing trend in Australia. ABC News reports that 'More awareness of hemp foods and their nutritional value are needed to help South Australia's budding industry blossom, growers and processors say. Farmers across the state are expecting to their biggest yield yet after the cultivation of the crop was legalised in 2017. But some doubt the the state government's prediction that the industry's farm gate value would reach $3 million within five years without more support for market development and consumer education. "We need more awareness about the actual product itself, whether it be hemp oil, hemp flour, the hemp seed, on a consumer level," south-east grower Steven Moulton said.' AGWeb reports, 'As the U.S. hemp industry finds its legs following legalization in the 2018 farm bill, in Australia, it's been legal to consume hemp food products for about a year. There, Hemp oils, seeds and protein powders...all sorts of products can now be found in local supermarkets. The market is gradually growing, but there's work to be done explaining what the new food is all about. Now part of the landscape, protein-rich hemp plants have been growing on farms around the state of Queensland since November 2017 when the national food legislation was changed to authorize such crops. Since then, the hemp industry has been steadily increasing acreage and products.' Hemp Hazette reported in Western Australia that '“Our Government is working hard to support this exciting fledgling agricultural industry,” said Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan. “These amendments will reduce risk for hemp growers and open up new opportunities in hemp seed as a food and drink product.”'
All this has come about against the backdrop of more and more people abusing opioids, prescription drugs, methamphetamine, cocaine and alcohol to meet their medical and recreational needs. It is the harms created from these dangerous substitutes for cannabis that have fueled the rise of medical cannabis in Australia. The proximity to China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and other Asian countries has led to a sharp spike in the flow of fentanyl, opiates and, especially, methamphetamine into Australia often through the internet-based trade and delivery mechanisms. The demand for stimulants, and the difficulty of accessing cocaine, has fueled the rise of methamphetamine. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), says in its World Drug Report 2020, that 'England and Wales and Australia are examples of places where cocaine and amphetamines have competed for their share of the stimulant market over the past 20 years.' UNODC reports that 'By contrast, wastewater analysis in Australia shows that increasing amounts of methamphetamine are consumed each year in the country, from an estimated average of 8.4 tons in 2016/17 to 11.5 tons in 2018/19.66 The wastewater analysis conducted in 2019 was carried out at 22 sites in state capitals and 36 regional sites, and covered 57 per cent of the population and a wide range of catchment sizes. Overall, the average per capita consumption of methamphetamine was highest at regional sites: 1,500 mg per 1,000 population per day, compared with an average of 1250 mg per 1,000 population per day at state capital sites.67 The largest amounts of methamphetamine were consumed in New South Wales, followed by Victoria and Queensland'. Cannabis is a wonderful stimulant, much safer than cocaine and even more so than the deadly methamphetamine. Cannabis can be grown easily in Australia unlike the coca plant endemic to South America. But then the infantile people who make up the upper classes and the policy makers in Australia seek cocaine because it is said that this is what the elites consume, and that cocaine is what differentiates the upper classes from the lower classes. UNODC reports that 'Globally, an estimated 19 million people were pastyear users of cocaine in 2018, corresponding to 0.4 per cent of the global population aged 15–64. The main cocaine markets continue to be North America and Western and Central Europe, with a prevalence of use of 2.1 per cent and 1.4 per cent, respectively, while the highest prevalence of past-year cocaine use is in Australia and New Zealand, at 2.2 per cent of the population aged 15–64. Cocaine use is also higher than the global average in Central America (0.7 per cent) and South America (1.0 per cent).' But the imbecility of Australia's policy makers has resulted in a market where methamphetamine is in high demand from all sources possible - Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Mexico, the US, Canada, etc. UNODC reports that 'This shift from China as the main location of methamphetamine manufacture and trafficking to other countries in East and South-East Asia is also indirectly reflected in trafficking data reported by Australia. China and Hong Kong, China, were the two main embarkation points for methamphetamine trafficked to Australia in 2015, whereas in the fiscal years 2016/17 and 2017/18 the most important embarkation points were the United States, followed by Thailand and Malaysia. In fact, in 2018, the Australian authorities reported that the importance of China as a source country for methamphetamine had declined while there has been an emerging trend in the growth of quantities of seized methamphetamine originating in South-East Asia, mainly in the Mekong region, including the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar and Thailand.' UNODC further reports that 'The United States, for example, has been reported by other countries as a country of departure of methamphetamine for Oceania (Australia and New Zealand), Asia (Japan, the Philippines, Hong Kong, China and Mongolia) and Europe (Ireland). Moreover, methamphetamine trafficking has been reported not only from Mexico or from Canada into the United States but also from the United States to those two countries, suggesting a number of two-way trafficking flows across the countries of North America. Methamphetamine trafficked from Canada has been reported in the United States, South America (Chile), Oceania (Australia and New Zealand) and a few countries in Europe (Iceland and Latvia).' Methamphetamine is both locally manufactured in Australia as well as imported. UNODC reports that 'Methamphetamine found in Australia and New Zealand is both locally manufactured and, to a larger extent, imported from North America and Asia. In the fiscal year 2017/18, methamphetamine was mainly smuggled into Australia from the United States, followed by Thailand, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, China (including Hong Kong, China), Mexico, Lebanon, Viet Nam and India. The United States was also the main source country of the methamphetamine found in New Zealand in 2018, followed by Canada and, in SouthEast Asia, by Malaysia and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.'
The demand for stimulants has also seen a rise in the trafficking of MDMA or ecstasy as it is popularly called. UNODC reports that 'Nonetheless, seizures of methamphetamine remain highly concentrated: the three countries responsible for most of the methamphetamine seized worldwide in 2018 (the United States, Thailand and Mexico) accounted for 80 per cent of the global total, while the three countries reporting the largest quantities of amphetamine (Turkey, Pakistan and the Syrian Arab Republic) and the three countries reporting the most “ecstasy” seized (Turkey, the United States and Australia) accounted for a significantly smaller proportion of the global total (around 50 per cent) in 2018.'
The proximity of Australia to East Asia has always meant that it has a steady supply of highly addictive heroin and other opiates. UNODC reports that 'The most significant trafficking activities worldwide of opiates not of Afghan origin concern opiates produced in South-East Asia (mostly Myanmar), which are trafficked to other markets in East and SouthEast Asia (mostly China and Thailand) and to Oceania (mostly Australia). Seizures made in those countries accounted for 11 per cent of the global quantities of heroin and morphine seized (excluding seizures made by Afghanistan) in 2018, down from 15 per cent in 2015. This went in parallel with reported reductions in opium production in Myanmar of 20 per cent over the period 2005–2018.'
There have been reports that especially among the older population, heroin and alcohol use along with the abuse of prescription medication is on the rise. Events such as music festivals now often see drug testing by voluntary organizations who check the potency and constituents of recreational drugs that are procured by the event attendees.
The prevalence of synthetic drugs like methamphetamine, in addition to heroin and cocaine, has even bamboozled law enforcement's ability to detect these dangerous drugs. Canines can most likely detect only the most harmless drug, cannabis, because of its characteristic odor, thus directing precious energy towards a useless area in the global war on drugs. This is another example of how cannabis prohibition measures have only served to increase the demand for more dangerous drugs, and the efficiency with which synthetic drug cartels can now work, while law and drug enforcement focuses on cannabis. NORML reports that 'Drug sniffing dogs provide false alerts approximately seventy-five percent of the time, according to an analysis of ten years of data recently provided to members of the Australian Parliament. The analysis reviewed over 94,000 searches. The overwhelming majority of those searches failed to identify the presence of illegal substances. According to reporting in The Sydney Morning Herald, “The worst year for drug-detection dogs was 2014, when only 21 percent of the 14,213 searches resulted in illicit drugs being found; the best was two years later in 2016, where 32.5 percent of the 8746 searches were accurate.”'
All the steps taken to increase the use of medical cannabis and the promotion of the medical cannabis industry hides the fact that it is only beneficial to the upper classes and the elites. The aborigines are worse off than they were before, with no access to medical cannabis on the one hand, and being increasingly flooded with cheap methamphetamine from east Asia on the other hand, to add to the alcohol and opioids that the government has on offer for them. The Guardian reported that 'Recent figures show 499 children aged 10 to 13 were in detention in the 2019/20 financial year. Indigenous Australians were massively overrepresented, comprising two-thirds of that number. Kershaw argued Australia had “made great strides in healthier living – more exercise, drinking less, being sun smart and giving up tobacco – yet too many are ignoring the damage that illicit drugs do to our bodies and our minds”. “Making these drugs lawful will not stop organised crime – it will likely embolden them, make them richer and enable them to buy more guns and pay for more murders.” The commissioner noted that a kilogram of methamphetamine was bought for about $1,800 in Myanmar and sold wholesale in Australia for between $63,000 and $150,000, while a kilogram of cocaine cost about $2,300 in Colombia and was sold domestically for between $220,000 and $450,000.'
Australia has also started seeing the government and policy makers increasingly talk about decriminalizing cannabis. The stance of the Australian government to complete legalization of cannabis, however, which is what is needed to protect the health of the vast majority of its people - the working classes and aborigines - is quite predictable, revealing the discrimination that exists in the country. The usual myths that have been repeatedly debunked by the latest scientific findings such as cannabis causes insanity, cannabis is used by criminals, and cannabis increased fatal road accidents thrive in Australia as much as it does in the redneck states of the US. Northern Beaches Review reports that 'Just hours after the report's release, Mr Andrews said he had "no intention" of legalising the drug. "If you want to know why, then have a look at the sections in the mental health royal commission that talk about dual diagnosis, drug-induced psychosis," he told reporters outside parliament on Thursday.' The Age reports that 'The premier said he didn’t want anyone to avoid alleviating pain or other symptoms because they were too scared to take what had been prescribed to them. “I don’t want them to feel they can’t access that care because we don’t have [updated] drug-driving laws and we don’t have a test that can test for impairment,” he said. “You’re either positive [to traces of the psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC] or negative. It’s a binary thing when you may not be impaired at all. So we’re working through that.”' Australian researchers themselves have been involved in studies debunking the cannabis causes insanity myth. But that has not stopped lawmakers, the medical industry and law enforcement from continuing to flog this horse for their own benefit. NORML reports that 'A team of investigators from Australia, Europe, and the United Kingdom examined the association between cannabis use and incidences of psychotic disorders in clinically at-risk subjects. Researchers assessed subjects at baseline and then followed them for a period of two years. They reported: “There was no significant association between any measure of cannabis use at baseline and either transition to psychosis, the persistence of symptoms, or functional outcomes.” Authors concluded, “Our primary hypothesis was that cannabis use in CHR [clinically high risk] subjects would be associated with an increased rate of later transition to psychosis. However, there was no significant association with any measure of cannabis use. … These findings are not consistent with epidemiological data linking cannabis use to an increased risk of developing psychosis.”'
The inability to differentiate between opium and cannabis is one of the biggest problems that the world faces today. This is one of the primary reasons why opium has risen to dominate the world, and cannabis has been sidelined. The people who make global drug policy are people who are more familiar with opium than with cannabis - the Americans, Europeans and Oceanics. In this they are ably aided by the lovers of opium - the Chinese and the people of Central Asia and the Middle East. The traditional cannabis using nations - the Africans, the South Americans and the Asiatics - have almost no say in the matter as the opium lovers are the rich and powerful of the world (partly due to cannabis prohibition and the resulting sale of opium). This inability to differentiate between the relatively harmless, highly medicinal cannabis and the highly addictive and lethal opium is repeatedly seen in statements made by lawmakers across the world, even as the world today faces hundreds of thousands of deaths due to opioid overdose and an epidemic of opioid addiction. The Hindu reports 'Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has thrown his support behind the legalisation of marijuana for medicinal use, the media reported on Wednesday. “I have no problem with the medical use of marijuana, just as I have no problem with the medical use of opiates,” Mr. Abbott wrote to talkback radio host Alan Jones in a letter dated Aug 23, Sydney Morning Herald reported.'
As global awareness about the reasons behind cannabis prohibition and the harms that this has resulted in, primarily through the increased access to scientific facts, we see that the general public in Australia are becoming more aware of the situation. The Age reports that 'The push for reform comes at a time when more Australians support the legalisation of cannabis than oppose it (41 per cent to 37 per cent), according to the 2019 National Drug Household Survey. “It’s really a politically safe space for the Victorian government to be in now,” says Samaras. “You’ve got so much support in the crossbench, there’s even some Libs I reckon you’ll get across on this. And then of course knowing that you’ll have a significant portion of the electorate that will support it, I just don’t see any downside.”' According to The Conversation - 'For the first time in the survey’s history, more Australians support the legalisation of cannabis (41%) than oppose it (37%). This is almost double the level of support in 2007 (21%).' The conversation around cannabis legalization has been increasing in Australia. KIIS 1065 reports, 'Imagine Kyle’s glee… I mean…Kyle & Jackie O spoke to Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce this morning before he was sworn in as Deputy PM. Obviously, the most important question was on Kyle’s mind. Tune in below to hear what Joyce had to say about marijuana legalisation!' News.com reports an Australian MP bidding for cannabis legalization, when it quotes her as saying, 'Legalising cannabis makes sense - it's a no-brainer to most people. "Across the world communities are making this change and it is time for Victoria to yet again lead the way in this historic reform." The Victorian Parliamentary Budget Office expects the state would raise $204 million in increased revenues, taxes, policing and prosecution reductions in the move, she said.' Canberra Times reports another pro-cannabis lawmaker saying, 'Mr Pettersson said the fact that he was introducing this bill now was in line with what he described as a global movement. “If this law is passed, there will be no cannabis shops - it simply means people can grow and possess 50 grams of cannabis,” he said.' A bid to legalize cannabis in Australia failed in the Senate some time back. News.Au reports 'With the coalition and Labor opposed to legalising cannabis, the draft laws will not pass the upper house but debate was adjourned before they were voted on.' As the awareness of the benefits of cannabis increase and the harms of benefits of cannabis as medicine increase and the harms of opioids, alcohol, methamphetamine, synthetic cannabinoids, novel psychotropic substances and prescription drug increase, there is likely to be a buildup of common consensus that cannabis needs to be legalized mirroring the legalization movements in North America and Europe. So-called conservative politicians will soon need to sit up and pay close attention.
Australia's Capitol Territory has legalized cannabis for recreational purposes since January, 2020. NORML reports that 'Under the new law, which takes effect on January 30, 2020, adults may possess up to 50 grams of cannabis and cultivate up to four plants per household without penalty. Public cannabis consumption, or use within close proximity to children, will remain prohibited. Under the territory's existing law, low-level marijuana offenses are punishable by civil fines.'
Regarding the cannabis market in Oceania, New Frontier Data reported that 'There are an estimated 2.8 million cannabis consumers in Oceania, representing a total addressable market of approximately $5 billion USD. While Australia, New Zealand, and Guam have legal medical markets, and the Northern Mariana Islands recently legalized both medical and adult use, the vast majority of the total addressable market remains illicit. Much of the demand resides in Australia and New Zealand, the countries with both the highest rates of cannabis use and the highest GDP per capita levels in Oceania.'
Germany was until recently one of the greatest believers in medical cannabis and the largest importer of medical cannabis in Europe. When it found that it was heavily dependent on other nations for its cannabis, and that medical cannabis only served the interests of the ruling elites, it decided to legalize cannabis for adult recreational use in April 2024 with permission for home growing and setting up of cannabis clubs of up to 100 members who could collectively cultivate cannabis for their own needs. This decision was brought about by the possible recognition that all the people in Germany deserved to have access to the precious cannabis plant, not just the elites. It was also possibly brought about by the recognition that much of its society - the youth, the poor and the suffering - were forced to silently suffer, or to rely on the dangerous synthetic pharmaceutical drugs and dangerous illegal synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine, besides opioids and alcohol for their health and well-being. Australia appears to have just started its journey on this path. Australia was the largest importer of cannabis oil from Canada in 2019. MJBizDaily reported that 'Australia was the top destination, with roughly 3,700 liters (977 gallons) shipped there in 2019. Germany and Denmark were second and third, with 790 liters and 336 liters, respectively. Those top three markets accounted for 90% of all exported oil. The remaining 546 liters were shipped to 10 or more countries. Overall, 5,372.3 liters of cannabis oil products were exported for medical and scientific use in 2019. That’s almost five times more than the 920 liters exported from Canada in 2018. Roughly 435 liters left Canada via federal approval in 2017.'
Australia also exported medical cannabis to the UK for the first time. Australia boasts of ambitions to export cannabis to other nations in the world. This can only be truly successful if the indigenous communities who are the true guardians of the cannabis plant and to whom the plant rightfully belongs are given back their plant through complete legalization of cannabis. A start has been made to locally cultivate cannabis for medical use, with much stealth and intrigue like as if it was a nuclear weapons program. 7 News reports that 'In a covert, country location - inside what looks like a jail we can show you a closely guarded secret. A state-of-the-art greenhouse growing small narcotic plants, the first of its kind in NSW, that hold big healing promise. NSW Minister for Agriculture Adam Marshall says the plants will be available to patients to purchase.' MJBizDaily reported that '“This first export of Australian-produced medicinal cannabis oils to the U.K. marks an important step in fulfilling Australia’s vision of building a global medicinal cannabis industry capable of supplying quality medicinal cannabis products to both Australian and overseas patients,” Greg Hunt, Australia’s Minister for Health, said in a statement. Little Green Pharma’s products will be distributed in the U.K. by Astral Health. Over a year ago, Little Green Pharma became the first Aussie company to locally grow and produce medical cannabis for domestic sale'. Regarding a bill in Australian legislature to facilitate cannabis export to other countries, MJBizDaily reports that 'He said countries with strict import rules – such as a requirement for phytosanitary certificates for unprocessed plant products – include Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and the United States. “These are all markets that require official phytosanitary certification – certification that the passage of this bill will finally allow Australian authorities to issue,” Littleproud said. “This bill will enable the growth of export markets for hemp and medicinal cannabis industries. The bill will support the initiatives of the government to reduce red tape, bust congestion in regulation and enable agricultural industries to come out firing, after the threat of COVID-19 has passed,” he said.' I wonder if the politician Littleproud is invested in the pharma company Little Green Pharma. New Frontier Data reported that 'Investor interest has been especially concentrated in cultivation and production, as Australia lays the groundwork to become a major exporter to the global medical market. Its progressive cannabis laws, evolving medical regulations, and high rates of social acceptance could allow the country to make significant headway in scientific and medical research, while also producing high-quality cultivars to give Australia’s cannabis industry the distinction it needs to stand out in the international market.'
There is a possibility that Australia may possess some indigenous varieties of cannabis that have survived among the aborigines. Hopefully these have not been completely wiped out in the name of progress. If these varieties can be revived and cultivated, these could form the backbone of trade with other nations, as well as for medical, industrial, agricultural, business, economic, environmental and recreational use for its own people. Being a water stressed nation, the growth of cannabis could provide a sustainable boost to the economy, industry and agriculture. Indigenous communities could use the crop as a way to reach sustainability instead of being pushed to extinction or forced to migrate to the harsh life that the cities have to offer. Australian cannabis could boost tourism if sufficiently local varieties are revived. It would provide a healthier and safer alternative to heroin, opioids, methamphetamine, novel psychotropic substances, synthetic cannabis, tobacco and alcohol for the Australian people especially its farmers, indigenous communities, youth and elders.
Australia is among the chief global environmental polluters, and the increasing embrace of fossil fuels has not done anything to make things easier for the whole world. Recognizing the benefits of cannabis for combating the catastrophic problem of climate change and completely legalizing it for all purposes is one of the most urgent steps that nations should take, especially leading polluters like Australia. But then, Australia's ruling elites have behavioral characteristics that more closely resemble the US, Middle East and Britain than the aborigines who lived in sustainable ways in the land in the past. New Frontier Data reports 'Last summer, Darshil Shah, a senior researcher at the Centre for Natural Material Innovation at the University of Cambridge in the U.K., notably asserted (if without citing any studies) that hemp crops may capture atmospheric carbon more effectively than forests, estimating that industrial hemp absorbs between 3 to 6 tons of CO2 per acre. The most-cited study about carbon sequestration in soil by growing industrial hemp was authored and submitted to the Australian government by GoodEarth Resources PTY, Ltd. (i.e., GoodEarth Resources), before the latter disbanded in 2014. The study claims that one acre of industrial hemp absorbs nearly 40,000 pounds of CO2 through its growing cycle. According to the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance (CHTA), industrial hemp sequesters carbon through photosynthesis, storing it in the body of the plant and its roots. The CTHA states that approximately 40% of hemp biomass is carbon. While Shah and the GoodEarth Resources study address carbon sequestered in the soil from hemp production, the carbon in the stalk of the hemp plant equates to increased value by “permanently capturing” CO2 in long-life products (e.g., hurd-based concrete and cement). Those potentially carbon-negative biomaterials require comprehensive life-cycle assessments by qualified material scientists to quantify and spur that area of interest.'
A couple of years back, New Zealand, Australia's neighbour undertook a referendum on cannabis legalization. Even though as many as 49% of the people voted in favor of cannabis legalization, the government declined to legalize cannabis stating that the majority of people were against it. New Zealand and Australia mirror each other in the way that the Europeans who arrived in the 17th or 18th century established a stranglehold on the indigenous communities there and established systems that work for the benefit of the ruling classes and relegated the indigenous communities to slaves also known as the working classes or remote reservations out of the way so that they interfered minimally with the ruling upper classes. We see in this behavior a common thread with the white colonizers of the Americas and India, both places where the new arrivals prohibited cannabis and reduced the indigenous communities to second-class citizens toiling for the benefit of the rich upper classes. To me it looks like only a matter of time before enough public support builds up to push through legalization for adult recreational use. The key factor holding it back is possibly the colonial white dominating attitude and the so-called conservative politics that probably still runs deep in many sections of Australian society. This is the same attitude that brought about cannabis prohibition in India, the US and Europe in the first place, viewing cannabis as a threat, as a plant whose prohibition could be used to control non-white people and as a plant that stood in the way of emerging big businesses 150 years ago.
In December 2020, the UN voted to remove cannabis from its most restricted Schedule IV category of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. It does however still remain in Schedule I, which is the least restrictive. This one move by the UN itself should be sufficient to bring about the recreational legalization of cannabis in every nation and an overhaul of national drug laws. It must be noted that in most places where cannabis legalization has happened it took the efforts of the people who mobilized themselves through grassroots level movements to bring about this change. Left to lawmakers legalization would have been impossible, as the main interests of lawmakers concern the protection of the big industries opposed to cannabis such as pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, medical, alcohol and tobacco. For something that truly benefits the people, the people themselves have had to make the change.
The ruling upper classes in Australia appear to have commenced their journey towards cannabis maturity. They appear to have moved from the infantile state of viewing cannabis as a dangerous, evil, prohibited thing to the teenage state of maturity where they start to recognize cannabis as a medicine. The youthful state of cannabis maturity where they start viewing it as a source of pleasure, the adult stage of cannabis maturity where they start viewing cannabis as a valuable companion and the ultimate state of cannabis maturity where they view it as the most potent entheogen and spiritual aid still remains. When that ultimate state is reached, the Australian upper-class person will recognize that cannabis is the eternal spirit, that all beings are the eternal spirit in form and that there is no separation between human, plant and nature. When that state is reached, the Australian who was forcefully dislodged from his home in Europe and relocated to a new land will finally find his home and will recognize the aboriginal Australian as his brother. He will make more efforts to adopt the sustainable ways of life practiced successfully by the aboriginal communities for thousands of years. For the sake of the indigenous communities, the poor and the working classes of Australia, for the sake of the mystical and wonderful natural world that we live in called earth, let us all hope that this is sooner rather than later...
Related articles
Listed below are articles taken from various media related to the above subject. Words in italics are the thoughts of your truly at the time of reading the article.
Adults who consume cannabis to treat a medical condition overwhelmingly say that it improves their symptoms, according to survey data published in the Harm Reduction Journal.
Researchers surveyed over 3,300 Australian adults who self-identified as medical cannabis consumers. Seventy-three percent of respondents said that they primarily consumed prescription cannabis products. (Australian law permits physicians to prescribe cannabis products to patients unresponsive to conventional treatments.) Twenty-seven percent of respondents acknowledged accessing cannabis, primarily from the unregulated market.
Survey participants predominantly consumed either cannabis flower or oral extracts. Patients typically used cannabis to address pain, mood disorders, or sleep disorders.
Ninety-seven percent of those surveyed said that their condition “was a little, much, or very much better since starting medical cannabis,” – a finding that is consistent with the results of prior surveys and observational trials.
Drug sniffing dogs provide false alerts approximately seventy-five percent of the time, according to an analysis of ten years of data recently provided to members of the Australian Parliament.
The analysis reviewed over 94,000 searches. The overwhelming majority of those searches failed to identify the presence of illegal substances.
According to reporting in The Sydney Morning Herald, “The worst year for drug-detection dogs was 2014, when only 21 percent of the 14,213 searches resulted in illicit drugs being found; the best was two years later in 2016, where 32.5 percent of the 8746 searches were accurate.”
A team of Australian investigators assessed the safety and efficacy of oral cannabinoid formulations (either tinctures of capsules) containing various ratios of THC and CBD in 198 patients with anxiety disorders. The median doses consumed by study participants were 50.0 mg/day for CBD and 4.4 mg/day for THC. (Australian law permits physicians to authorize cannabis products to patients unresponsive to conventional prescription treatments.)
Researchers reported, “The total participant sample reported significantly improved anxiety, depression, fatigue, and ability to take part in social roles and activities.”
Among the subset of subjects diagnosed specifically with post-traumatic stress, cannabis therapy similarly “improved anxiety, depression, fatigue, and social abilities,” with CBD-dominant formulations exhibiting the greatest efficacy.
'Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) added more than 5,500 patient approvals in July for unapproved medicinal cannabis products – the biggest one-month gain on record.
July’s figure is 20% higher than June’s 4,630 approvals.
Australia has one of the biggest federally regulated medical marijuana markets outside North America, but it’s still considered nascent.'
'Melanoma is the fourth most common type of cancer diagnosed in Australians after breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers. While there has been substantial progress in the treatment of cancer in general, malignant melanoma, in particular, is resistant to existing medical therapies requiring an urgent need to develop effective treatments with lesser side effects. Several studies have shown that “cannabinoids”, the major compounds of the Cannabis sativaL. plant, can reduce cell proliferation and induce apoptosis in melanoma cells. Despite prohibited use of Cannabis in most parts of the world, in recent years there have been renewed interests in exploiting the beneficial health effects of the Cannabis plant-derived compounds. Therefore, the aim of this study was in the first instance to review the evidence from in vivo studies on the effects of cannabinoids on melanoma. Systematic searches were carried out in PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and ProQuest Central databases for relevant articles published from inception. From a total of 622 potential studies, six in vivo studies assessing the use of cannabinoids for treatment of melanoma were deemed eligible for the final analysis. The findings revealed cannabinoids, individually or combined, reduced tumor growth and promoted apoptosis and autophagy in melanoma cells.'
'Regulators at Australia’s Ministry of Health are one step closer to allowing over-the-counter sales of cannabidiol products.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) said Wednesday it reached an interim decision to amend the country’s Poisons Standard and down-schedule CBD to a Schedule 3 product in oral, oral mucosal and sublingual formulas for therapeutic use.
In Australia, CBD is currently a Schedule 4 substance, which makes it available only with a prescription.'
'Roughly 5,270 patients were approved for medical cannabis treatment in Australia in August via the SAS Category B pathway, the second month in a row the country recorded more than 5,000 individual approvals.
The August figure represents a 5% drop from the previous month.
But the number is more than 17% higher than the average monthly approvals seen in the previous five months, showing a positive trend.'
'Australia’s market for medical cannabis is expected to triple this year to about AU$95 million ($70 million) in product sales, according to a new report published by North Sydney-based data firm FreshLeaf Analytics.
However, FreshLeaf said it analyzed 37 companies vying for less than 100,000 prescriptions, concluding that “the Australian cannabis market is saturated and that the current product growth trajectory is unsustainable.”'
https://mjbizdaily.com/report-australias-cannabis-market-nears-au100-million-as-consolidation-looms/
'GW Pharmaceuticals’ plant-derived CBD drug Epidyolex received approval from Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to be used in treating seizures related to Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome for patients 2 and older.
The approval is the third major global regulatory approval for Epidyolex, GW said in a news release.
“The TGA approval is further proof that cannabis-based medicines can successfully go through extensive randomized placebo-controlled trials and a rigorous evaluation process to reach patients who need them,” GW Chief Operating Officer Chris Tovey said in a statement.'
'“An insurance company has finally figured out they can attract more customers by advertising their cannabis coverage.”
The Health Insurance Fund (HIF) will offer rebates for Little Green Pharma’s medical cannabis products up to 105 Australian dollars ($76) per prescription.
The deal “represents the first time a major Australian health fund has publicly declared its support for access to medicinal cannabis treatments,” the insurance company noted in a news release.'
'“The shift to over-the-counter is a huge stepping stone in reducing stigma and encouraging wider societal acceptance around medical cannabis,” Cannabis Doctors Australia (CDA Clinics) founder and clinical director, Dr Ben Jansen, told news.com.au in a statement, adding the move will facilitate better access to those who can benefit from it.
“Stigma is slowly continuing to change as education and information starts to outweigh ignorance and mistruths. 80 year of false stigma takes time to change.”'
'Australia has proposed amendments to the Narcotic Drugs Act that would overhaul the medical cannabis industry by streamlining the licensing process for businesses and ensure access for patients.'
'More awareness of hemp foods and their nutritional value are needed to help South Australia's budding industry blossom, growers and processors say.
Farmers across the state are expecting to their biggest yield yet after the cultivation of the crop was legalised in 2017.
But some doubt the the state government's prediction that the industry's farm gate value would reach $3 million within five years without more support for market development and consumer education.
"We need more awareness about the actual product itself, whether it be hemp oil, hemp flour, the hemp seed, on a consumer level," south-east grower Steven Moulton said.'
'Imagine Kyle’s glee… I mean…
Kyle & Jackie O spoke to Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce this morning before he was sworn in as Deputy PM.
Obviously, the most important question was on Kyle’s mind.
Tune in below to hear what Joyce had to say about marijuana legalisation!'
'The grant is part of Australia’s AU$50 million Manufacturing Modernization Fund, which offers funding to help small- and medium-sized manufacturing businesses scale up and compete internationally.
MediPharm Labs Australia Pty, the recipient of the grant, will use the funding for its Manufacturing Innovation and Capacity Optimization Project, according to the government announcement.
The project carries a total price tag of AU$1.9 million.
“Current operations have been focused on purified cannabis API development, which includes raw material extraction and cannabis oil purification. With increasing number of customers both domestically and internationally MediPharm Labs needs to increase its throughput of finished goods manufacturing,” a spokesperson for MediPharm in Australia told MJBizDaily via email.'
'Recent figures show 499 children aged 10 to 13 were in detention in the 2019/20 financial year. Indigenous Australians were massively overrepresented, comprising two-thirds of that number.
Kershaw argued Australia had “made great strides in healthier living – more exercise, drinking less, being sun smart and giving up tobacco – yet too many are ignoring the damage that illicit drugs do to our bodies and our minds”.
“Making these drugs lawful will not stop organised crime – it will likely embolden them, make them richer and enable them to buy more guns and pay for more murders.”
The commissioner noted that a kilogram of methamphetamine was bought for about $1,800 in Myanmar and sold wholesale in Australia for between $63,000 and $150,000, while a kilogram of cocaine cost about $2,300 in Colombia and was sold domestically for between $220,000 and $450,000.'
'Just hours after the report's release, Mr Andrews said he had "no intention" of legalising the drug.
"If you want to know why, then have a look at the sections in the mental health royal commission that talk about dual diagnosis, drug-induced psychosis," he told reporters outside parliament on Thursday.'
'"This isn’t about patient care, it's about a political stand," he said.
"From a doctor's point of view what we support is a proper investigation into medicinal cannabis for its clinical indications, how safe it is, how effective it is.
"Let’s see the evidence that ... more people should be prescribing it."
Dr Duncan-Smith said that there were better, more effective, and more evidence-based drugs than pharmaceutical cannabis.
"A doctor is going to prescribe a well-recognised effective drug over and against a socially popular … drug."'
'Last summer, Darshil Shah, a senior researcher at the Centre for Natural Material Innovation at the University of Cambridge in the U.K., notably asserted (if without citing any studies) that hemp crops may capture atmospheric carbon more effectively than forests, estimating that industrial hemp absorbs between 3 to 6 tons of CO2 per acre.
The most-cited study about carbon sequestration in soil by growing industrial hemp was authored and submitted to the Australian government by GoodEarth Resources PTY, Ltd. (i.e., GoodEarth Resources), before the latter disbanded in 2014. The study claims that one acre of industrial hemp absorbs nearly 40,000 pounds of CO2 through its growing cycle.
According to the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance (CHTA), industrial hemp sequesters carbon through photosynthesis, storing it in the body of the plant and its roots. The CTHA states that approximately 40% of hemp biomass is carbon. While Shah and the GoodEarth Resources study address carbon sequestered in the soil from hemp production, the carbon in the stalk of the hemp plant equates to increased value by “permanently capturing” CO2 in long-life products (e.g., hurd-based concrete and cement). Those potentially carbon-negative biomaterials require comprehensive life-cycle assessments by qualified material scientists to quantify and spur that area of interest.'
'A proposal to decriminalise various amounts of drugs including cocaine, heroin, acid and MDMA would mean police are “busier” and could see the ACT become a target for organised crime, a parliamentary committee has been told this week.
Speaking at a Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs committee earlier this week, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw said the experience of overseas jurisdictions had shown there were many consequences to the decriminalisation of the drugs, including ‘narco-tourism’.'
A good way to get a country to legalize ganja would be for its immediate neighbour to legalize. There is usually such competition between neighbouring countries that the idea that one's immediate neighbour may stand to gain immensely from legalization could be a very good motivation for one's own country to legalize. Keeping up with the Joneses i mean the Mary Janes..Canada/USA, Australia/New Zealand, England/Germany, Israel/Iran, China/Japan, North Korea/South Korea...hey Pakistan, I think you guys should legalize because that would surely wake up India too...it's the perfect healthy competition and a win-win for all...gun competition is so uncool...not to mention fatal for the majority...
The premier said he didn’t want anyone to avoid alleviating pain or other symptoms because they were too scared to take what had been prescribed to them.
“I don’t want them to feel they can’t access that care because we don’t have [updated] drug-driving laws and we don’t have a test that can test for impairment,” he said.
“You’re either positive [to traces of the psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC] or negative. It’s a binary thing when you may not be impaired at all. So we’re working through that.”
The push for reform comes at a time when more Australians support the legalisation of cannabis than oppose it (41 per cent to 37 per cent), according to the 2019 National Drug Household Survey.
“It’s really a politically safe space for the Victorian government to be in now,” says Samaras.
“You’ve got so much support in the crossbench, there’s even some Libs I reckon you’ll get across on this. And then of course knowing that you’ll have a significant portion of the electorate that will support it, I just don’t see any downside.”
'A team of investigators from Australia, Europe, and the United Kingdom examined the association between cannabis use and incidences of psychotic disorders in clinically at-risk subjects. Researchers assessed subjects at baseline and then followed them for a period of two years.
They reported: “There was no significant association between any measure of cannabis use at baseline and either transition to psychosis, the persistence of symptoms, or functional outcomes.”
Authors concluded, “Our primary hypothesis was that cannabis use in CHR [clinically high risk] subjects would be associated with an increased rate of later transition to psychosis. However, there was no significant association with any measure of cannabis use. … These findings are not consistent with epidemiological data linking cannabis use to an increased risk of developing psychosis.”'
'Patients frequently report consuming cannabis to treat sleep-related issues, particularly insomnia, according to survey data published in the journal Nature and Science of Sleep.
Researchers affiliated with the University of Sydney surveyed 1,600 Australians regarding their use of medical cannabis.
Sixty-four percent of those surveyed acknowledged consuming cannabis to mitigate symptoms of a sleep disorder, typically insomnia.
Most respondents said that cannabis greatly improved their sleep quality. A majority of respondents also said that they decreased their consumption of benzodiazepines and alcohol following their use of cannabis – a finding that is consistent with other studies.
Those who reported consuming cannabis were most likely to acknowledge using THC-dominant cannabis products.'
'In a covert, country location - inside what looks like a jail we can show you a closely guarded secret.
A state-of-the-art greenhouse growing small narcotic plants, the first of its kind in NSW, that hold big healing promise.
NSW Minister for Agriculture Adam Marshall says the plants will be available to patients to purchase.'
'For the first time in the survey’s history, more Australians support the legalisation of cannabis (41%) than oppose it (37%). This is almost double the level of support in 2007 (21%).
This is significant, because while there has been overwhelming community support for removing criminal penalties for cannabis possession (sometimes referred to as “decriminalisation”), this has not been the case with legalisation.'
'England and Wales and Australia are examples of places where cocaine and amphetamines have competed for their share of the stimulant market over the past 20 years. Germany and the United States are examples of places where cocaine and amphetamines have together led the changes in the stimulant market
Within the stimulant markets, there are also examples of substitution effects in the “ecstasy” market. In England and Wales, for example, trend data on the use of “ecstasy”, mephedrone and NPS in the period 2005–2019 suggest that first mephedrone and later NPS filled the market space left by the decreasing supply of “ecstasy”, mainly due to a supply shortage, until 2012. Once “ecstasy” started to regain its previous share, the other substances declined sharply' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_BOOKLET_4.pdf
'By contrast, wastewater analysis in Australia shows that increasing amounts of methamphetamine are consumed each year in the country, from an estimated average of 8.4 tons in 2016/17 to 11.5 tons in 2018/19.66 The wastewater analysis conducted in 2019 was carried out at 22 sites in state capitals and 36 regional sites, and covered 57 per cent of the population and a wide range of catchment sizes. Overall, the average per capita consumption of methamphetamine was highest at regional sites: 1,500 mg per 1,000 population per day, compared with an average of 1250 mg per 1,000 population per day at state capital sites.67 The largest amounts of methamphetamine were consumed in New South Wales, followed by Victoria and Queensland' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'Globally, an estimated 19 million people were pastyear users of cocaine in 2018, corresponding to 0.4 per cent of the global population aged 15–64. The main cocaine markets continue to be North America and Western and Central Europe, with a prevalence of use of 2.1 per cent and 1.4 per cent, respectively, while the highest prevalence of past-year cocaine use is in Australia and New Zealand, at 2.2 per cent of the population aged 15–64. Cocaine use is also higher than the global average in Central America (0.7 per cent) and South America (1.0 per cent).' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_2.pdf
'The most significant trafficking activities worldwide of opiates not of Afghan origin concern opiates produced in South-East Asia (mostly Myanmar), which are trafficked to other markets in East and SouthEast Asia (mostly China and Thailand) and to Oceania (mostly Australia). Seizures made in those countries accounted for 11 per cent of the global quantities of heroin and morphine seized (excluding seizures made by Afghanistan) in 2018, down from 15 per cent in 2015. This went in parallel with reported reductions in opium production in Myanmar of 20 per cent over the period 2005–2018.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Nonetheless, seizures of methamphetamine remain highly concentrated: the three countries responsible for most of the methamphetamine seized worldwide in 2018 (the United States, Thailand and Mexico) accounted for 80 per cent of the global total, while the three countries reporting the largest quantities of amphetamine (Turkey, Pakistan and the Syrian Arab Republic) and the three countries reporting the most “ecstasy” seized (Turkey, the United States and Australia) accounted for a significantly smaller proportion of the global total (around 50 per cent) in 2018.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'The United States, for example, has been reported by other countries as a country of departure of methamphetamine for Oceania (Australia and New Zealand), Asia (Japan, the Philippines, Hong Kong, China and Mongolia) and Europe (Ireland). Moreover, methamphetamine trafficking has been reported not only from Mexico or from Canada into the United States but also from the United States to those two countries, suggesting a number of two-way trafficking flows across the countries of North America. Methamphetamine trafficked from Canada has been reported in the United States, South America (Chile), Oceania (Australia and New Zealand) and a few countries in Europe (Iceland and Latvia).' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'This shift from China as the main location of methamphetamine manufacture and trafficking to other countries in East and South-East Asia is also indirectly reflected in trafficking data reported by Australia. China and Hong Kong, China, were the two main embarkation points for methamphetamine trafficked to Australia in 2015, whereas in the fiscal years 2016/17 and 2017/18 the most important embarkation points were the United States, followed by Thailand and Malaysia. In fact, in 2018, the Australian authorities reported that the importance of China as a source country for methamphetamine had declined while there has been an emerging trend in the growth of quantities of seized methamphetamine originating in South-East Asia, mainly in the Mekong region, including the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar and Thailand.' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'While methamphetamine trafficking flows from East and South-East Asia to countries outside the subregion remain modest, some smuggling to destinations around the world was reported, mainly smuggling from Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar in 2018 or, when the period is extended to the past five years, mainly from China and Thailand. Destinations outside the subregion included countries in South Asia, the Near and Middle East (Saudi Arabia as well as Israel), Oceania (Australia and New Zealand), North America (the United States as well as Canada), Western Europe (notably Switzerland as well as Italy, Germany, France, Spain and Iceland), Eastern Europe (notably the Russian Federation) and Africa (notably South Africa) over the period 2014–2018' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Methamphetamine found in Australia and New Zealand is both locally manufactured and, to a larger extent, imported from North America and Asia. In the fiscal year 2017/18, methamphetamine was mainly smuggled into Australia from the United States, followed by Thailand, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, China (including Hong Kong, China), Mexico, Lebanon, Viet Nam and India. The United States was also the main source country of the methamphetamine found in New Zealand in 2018, followed by Canada and, in SouthEast Asia, by Malaysia and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic' - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report 2020, https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/field/WDR20_Booklet_3.pdf
'Under the new law, which takes effect on January 30, 2020, adults may possess up to 50 grams of cannabis and cultivate up to four plants per household without penalty. Public cannabis consumption, or use within close proximity to children, will remain prohibited. Under the territory's existing law, low-level marijuana offenses are punishable by civil fines.'
'“This first export of Australian-produced medicinal cannabis oils to the U.K. marks an important step in fulfilling Australia’s vision of building a global medicinal cannabis industry capable of supplying quality medicinal cannabis products to both Australian and overseas patients,” Greg Hunt, Australia’s Minister for Health, said in a statement.
Little Green Pharma’s products will be distributed in the U.K. by Astral Health.
Over a year ago, Little Green Pharma became the first Aussie company to locally grow and produce medical cannabis for domestic sale'
Pharmaceuticalizing the plant...
'CBD is currently listed as a Schedule 4 substance in Australia and therefore available only with a prescription.
Under the proposed change, CBD would become a Schedule 3 substance, meaning no prescription would be required as long as the following conditions apply:
- The cannabidiol is plant-derived or, if it’s synthetic, is subject to certain conditions.
- The maximum recommended daily dose is 60 milligrams or less.
- The product is in packs containing not more than a 30-day supply.
- Cannabidiol comprises 98% or more of the total cannabinoid content of the preparation.
- Any cannabinoids, other than CBD, must be only those naturally found in cannabis and comprise 2% or less of the total cannabinoid content of the preparation
- The product is for adults 18 and older.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/australia-moves-toward-over-the-counter-cbd-sales/
'Australia was the top destination, with roughly 3,700 liters (977 gallons) shipped there in 2019. Germany and Denmark were second and third, with 790 liters and 336 liters, respectively. Those top three markets accounted for 90% of all exported oil. The remaining 546 liters were shipped to 10 or more countries. Overall, 5,372.3 liters of cannabis oil products were exported for medical and scientific use in 2019. That’s almost five times more than the 920 liters exported from Canada in 2018. Roughly 435 liters left Canada via federal approval in 2017.'
'He said countries with strict import rules – such as a requirement for phytosanitary certificates for unprocessed plant products – include Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and the United States.
“These are all markets that require official phytosanitary certification – certification that the passage of this bill will finally allow Australian authorities to issue,” Littleproud said.
“This bill will enable the growth of export markets for hemp and medicinal cannabis industries. The bill will support the initiatives of the government to reduce red tape, bust congestion in regulation and enable agricultural industries to come out firing, after the threat of COVID-19 has passed,” he said.'
Afghanistan and Mexico source the heroin and morphine. Mexico, Thailand, Myanmar and China source the methamphetamine. The Middle East and Eastern Europe sources the amphetamine. The US consumes heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. Europe consumes heroin, morphine, methamphetamine and amphetamine. Asia consumes heroin, morphine and methamphetamine. Australia consumes methamphetamine. The Middle East consumes heroin and amphetamine. West Asia consumes heroin and methamphetamine. All countries grow and consume cannabis. Opioids, methamphetamine and amphetamines kill the most in terms of drug deaths, cannabis kills none. Who are the leading opponents to cannabis legalization and leading enforcers of global anti-cannabis policy? The countries involved the most in heroin, morphine, amphetamines and methamphetamines. They put on a mask of concern about harms from drugs, produce, sell and consume the most dangerous synthetic drugs and vehemently oppose cannabis legalization worldwide while clandestinely feeding their habits and protecting their sources. They use arms and armies to protect and promote their synthetic drug habits, and drug money to fund and wage a war on cannabis everywhere, pushing man and planet ever closer to death on massive scales and away from the safe, healing cannabis herb...
Weekly Cannabit from New Frontier Data on the Oceania Market:
There are an estimated 2.8 million cannabis consumers in Oceania, representing a total addressable market of approximately $5 billion USD.
While Australia, New Zealand, and Guam have legal medical markets, and the Northern Mariana Islands recently legalized both medical and adult use, the vast majority of the total addressable market remains illicit.
Much of the demand resides in Australia and New Zealand, the countries with both the highest rates of cannabis use and the highest GDP per capita levels in Oceania.
Looking back, in the midst of the current worldwide opioid epidemic, the medical use of opiates and the medical use of marijuana can't be seen as similar problems...
'Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has thrown his support behind the legalisation of marijuana for medicinal use, the media reported on Wednesday.
“I have no problem with the medical use of marijuana, just as I have no problem with the medical use of opiates,” Mr. Abbott wrote to talkback radio host Alan Jones in a letter dated Aug 23, Sydney Morning Herald reported.'
https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/world/australian-pm-backs-medical-marijuana/article6419374.ece
'"Legalising cannabis makes sense - it's a no-brainer to most people.
"Across the world communities are making this change and it is time for Victoria to yet again lead the way in this historic reform."
The Victorian Parliamentary Budget Office expects the state would raise $204 million in increased revenues, taxes, policing and prosecution reductions in the move, she said.'
'Mr Pettersson said the fact that he was introducing this bill now was in line with what he described as a global movement.
“If this law is passed, there will be no cannabis shops - it simply means people can grow and possess 50 grams of cannabis,” he said.'
'As the U.S. hemp industry finds its legs following legalization in the 2018 farm bill, in Australia, it's been legal to consume hemp food products for about a year.
There, Hemp oils, seeds and protein powders...all sorts of products can now be found in local supermarkets. The market is gradually growing, but there's work to be done explaining what the new food is all about.
Now part of the landscape, protein-rich hemp plants have been growing on farms around the state of Queensland since November 2017 when the national food legislation was changed to authorize such crops. Since then, the hemp industry has been steadily increasing acreage and products.'
'Indeed, Australian policy-makers should look to and learn from other policy settings, notably Portugal, with the similarly broad aim of lessening the burdens on healthcare systems, overcrowded criminal justice institutions and families, while also reducing problematic use. In this way, pill testing serves as a platform for more nuanced discussion of drug policy ideas and applications particularly the need for innovative responses, to avoid the deaths of more young Australians.'
With the coalition and Labor opposed to legalising cannabis, the draft laws will not pass the upper house but debate was adjourned before they were voted on.'
'“Our Government is working hard to support this exciting fledgling agricultural industry,” said Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan. “These amendments will reduce risk for hemp growers and open up new opportunities in hemp seed as a food and drink product.”'
'Investor interest has been especially concentrated in cultivation and production, as Australia lays the groundwork to become a major exporter to the global medical market. Its progressive cannabis laws, evolving medical regulations, and high rates of social acceptance could allow the country to make significant headway in scientific and medical research, while also producing high-quality cultivars to give Australia’s cannabis industry the distinction it needs to stand out in the international market.'
'Consistent with previous research in Australia and internationally, the results demonstrate high levels of illicit drug use among this sample of festival attendees, with the rate of illicit drug use being almost three times higher (73.4 vs 28.2%) among festival attendees than in the young adult Australian population (20- to 29-year-olds).Of particular note are the differences in the prevalence of cannabis (63.9 vs 22.1%), ecstasy (59.8 vs 7.0%) and cocaine (34.1 vs 6.9%) in the current study compared to the Australian general population.'
'The country saw 568 medical cannabis approvals in November, a 42% increase on-month, bringing the total number of approvals for the first 11 months of 2018 to 2,072, according to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), which regulates medical marijuana in Australia.'
Legalize ganja in Australia and worldwide to reduce the illegal trade of narcotics and to provide people with the legal option of a natural medicinal recreational drug.
'The Australian Border Force deals with a particularly unique problem in contrast to the rest of the world; attempting to intercept drugs that arrive into Australia internationally, from an internal dark web drug market that relies almost entirely on those very same international shipments. Last year the Australian Border Force made nearly 50,000 drug detections. We embed with them as they find the drugs concealed in packages and envelopes being sent by Dark Web dealers from all over the world.'
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