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Australia to export cannabis to Canada for medicinal purposes from mid-2016

Xinhua, May 20, 2015 Adjust font size:

Australia will begin exporting cannabis after the self-governing territory of Norfolk Island agreed to a deal to provide Canada with the drug for medicinal purposes.

AUSCANN Group Holdings announced on Wednesday it had struck a deal to begin planting marijuana crops in November on the tiny, isolated island located in the Pacific Ocean, 1,400 km east of Brisbane.

It intends to export a high-grade medicinal strain of the crop by the middle of next year to Canada, where growing conditions are unsuitable for some species.

Initial production will be one tonne before production increases ten-fold by 2018.

AUSCANN's managing director Elaine Darby said Norfolk Island's isolation and climate gave it significant advantages over the indoor centers which Canada needs to grow its cannabis.

"All of their product is grown indoors which presents a few issues, the main being climate issues and also security aspects," she told Fairfax Media.

"This kind of limits them in some of the strains they can produce because of that."

Darby said the island's dwindling economy would be significantly boosted by the new venture.

"Certainly we would like to ramp up the operation, and we will be looking at providing ten tonnes around a few years down the track from here," she said.

"When this product is selling, it sells for 10-15 (Australian) dollars (8-12 U.S. dollars) a gram, it's quite a high value product."

The deal will further fuel the debate about using cannabis for medicinal purposes, with growing support for its legalisation.

Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales are trialling whether cannabis oil should be legalised for the treatment of epilepsy, end-of-life pain and cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.

Some remain opposed including Victoria Police's acting chief commissioner Tim Cartwright.

"My general reflection is that we've got plenty of illicit drugs, alcohol particularly, in the community, so why would we allow another one?" he told local media. Endi