Medical Marijuana Legalized in Victoria Australia

Victoria, Australia is going to legalize local medical marijuana under a contentious State Government move to provide relief for people that have debilitating medical conditions. For the first time in Australia, the Andrews Government wants to set out on a state-based marijuana growing pilot. This suggestion would be based on the suggestions from a report by the Victorian Law Reform Commission. However, the change is going to require the support of the Federal Government.

The commission has suggested licensing farmers as well as producers to make the marijuana under laws like those that look over the state’s opium poppy industry. Medical marijuana should be accessible in many forms such as oils, sprays, liquids, etc. According to the commission, though, marijuana should not be smoked because of how it affects the health of others. Marijuana would be prescribed by a doctor and distributed at pharmacies under a methadone program, rather than a home-grow plan.

Commission chairman Philip Cummins stated that the report was lead by compassion for people, especially kids with chronic diseases, who were going through immense pain and had no other medicine that is helping them. Kids with intense epilepsy would be the first to receive medical marijuana in 2017 that was grown in Victoria. Premier Daniel Andrews announced that the day cannabis was legalized was one of the best days of his political career.

“There are about 450 or those beautiful little people, and they’re going to get legally for the first time the medicine that they need to transform their lives, and indeed to save their lives,” he added. “The time has come for us to stop finding reasons not to do this. There will be a cost involved; there’s no doubt about that. It’s not about dollars and cents really; this is about saving lives.”