The federal government will now accept licence applications for groups wanting to grow cannabis locally for scientific and medical purposes.
Cannabis remains an illegal drug in Australia for recreational use and there no plans to change that. But the reforms are part of a broader effort to enable a sustainable supply of safe medicinal cannabis products to Australian patients.
There is limited high quality evidence on how cannabis medicines may help people suffering problems such as chemotherapy-induced nausea or paediatric epilepsy. New South Wales’ upcoming medicinal cannabis trials aim to find out more about its therapeutic potential.
Against this background, plant scientists in Australia are working to understand better the chemical make up of this complex plant and the incredible variation within the species.
Many questions remain unanswered, underscoring the potential risks of black market products. The composition of these products may be unknown, or vary wildly between products or batches. They may also be laced with pesticides and heavy metals.
This lack of quality control and quality assurance is a significant public health concern, especially for vulnerable patients who may not necessarily have a medical professional helping guide their treatment choices.
One species, hundreds of strains
You may think you know what a cannabis plant looks like, but even experts are still learning about how one plant may differ from the next in its chemical profile.
The two most well-known compounds in a cannabis plant are the psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and the non-psychoactive cannabidiol, or CBD. THC is the compound that delivers the “high”, while CBD is believed to have a relaxing effect. THC and CBD are part of a group of compounds that scientists call “cannabinoids”.
On the spectrum of variation, there are some plants that are high in THC and some that are high in CBD. But even for these two cannabinoids, there is much more of a continuum than most people realise.
You may read on the internet that there are two main types of cannabis – indica and sativa – and that one is more or less medically beneficial than the other. But this terminology is not backed by strong evidence.
Heavy metals, pesticides
Many existing products available on the black market may promise miraculous results without any compelling scientific evidence, regulation or product quality assurance standards. Some of the tinctures, oils or floral buds available on the black market may also be badly contaminated by pesticides, heavy metals and germs.
Some of the research underway in Australia is investigating just how variable the amounts of active ingredients may be in some of these products.
Tracing the history, mapping the present
All forms of cannabis currently growing have been domesticated at some point in the past few thousand years.
We can now use state-of-the art DNA technologies and detailed information on cannabinoid chemistry to help trace the domestication history of hemp, hempseed, recreational and now medicinal forms of cannabis.