The Australian Cannabis Corporation has taken its next step toward cultivating cannabis in the state for medicinal use as representatives from the South Australian State Government gave the company approval to seek a federal cannabis cultivation license, according to a report from InDaily.
Ben Fitzsimons, ACC co-founder, said now that they have the support of the state government, the company just needs approval from the feds.
“The vision is creating employment opportunities for all South Australians [and] to create a global research hub,” he said in the report, suggesting cannabis will become a “serious…global industry.”
According to the report, state government officials indicated they will help lobby the government on behalf of medical marijuana businesses, hoping to create a medical cannabis industry that includes research and development. A spokesperson indicated that the South Australian government “supports in-principle cannabis research and development” and would like to see the drug investigated clinically and in both public and private research institutions.
“[It] will assist licensed medicinal cannabis businesses operating in this State to lobby the Commonwealth Government to permit the export of any medicinal cannabis products which may be made in South Australia in the future,” the state government spokesperson said.
The South Australian medical marijuana plan would allow patients with serious and chronic illnesses to access the drug, which would be prescribed by medical specialists. The products would be produced in the region or imported under permits issued by the Therapeutic Goods Association.
Both Fitzsimons and state government officials said that plans for recreational cannabis use are “not on the table.”