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Queensland company awarded first licence to cultivate medicinal cannabis

Medifarm's Adam Benjamin said they worked closely with police and military advisers.

Medifarm's Adam Benjamin said they worked closely with police and military advisers.

A Queensland-based company has been awarded the state’s first licence to legally cultivate and produce medicinal cannabis.

Medifarm director Adam Benjamin said the business planned to start rolling out local products by early 2018.

“We do appreciate that there are a lot of patients in Queensland as well as Australia who need access,” he told reporters on the Sunshine Coast on Friday.

“We have the leading international company from Israel, we have access to their products and we’ll be looking to provide a stopgap measure until local production comes online.

“We’re very fortunate to have access to the best and most exclusive strains that the world has at the moment,” he said.

Medifarm will predominantly produce medicinal cannabis oils for people who have been prescribed the treatment by their doctor.

Mr Benjamin said the company initially planned to supply the drug to 5000 patients.

“We believe that’s a conservative number and that’s Queensland only,” he said.

“Through doctors in Australia, any patient who can be prescribed this will potentially be able to access these products.”

Mr Benjamin said he could not disclose the business’ exact location for security reasons, but confirmed it would be in Queensland.

“We work very closely with emergency services, the police, (and) we’ve had military advisers come in,” he said.

“The idea that people will know where it is, they won’t, and if they do they won’t get in.”

The Queensland government’s medicinal cannabis laws were passed by the parliament in October 2016 and came into effect in March.

— AAP

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