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- January 2014: Cannabis key to Tara’s dramatic improvement
- May 2014: Medicinal cannabis supplier charged
- August 2014: Mother pens heartfelt letter after supplier jailed
- May 2015: Bendigo hosts medicinal cannabis discussions
- October 2015: Cannabis move “too little, too late”
THE Victorian government has completed Australia’s first horticultural cannabis trial and is ready to begin cultivation for the first patient group to benefit from medicinal cannabis.
Premier Daniel Andrews marked the occasion with a visit to the state’s secret laboratory last month, posting the photographs on his Facebook page this morning.
The treatment will be administered to eligible children with severe epilepsy in 2017, while the government begins to look into other conditions that could also benefit.
Mr Andrews said it was an historic development.
“I can't tell you where it is, but I can tell you what's going on there,” he said in his Facebook post.
“It's where we're growing Victoria's first crop of medicinal cannabis – a crop that will improve the lives of hundreds upon hundreds of kids suffering from severe epilepsy.
“I can also tell you that, as of today, our trial is entering phase two, and experts are looking at how our medicinal cannabis scheme can be expanded to other patients with different conditions.”
The Premier also announced the appointment of Professor James Angus to chair the new independent medical advisory committee.
The committee will provide expert advice on patient eligibility, including expanding the program to other medical conditions.
Specialists and physicians in cancer, HIV/AIDS, addiction medicine, neurology and pain management, medical ethics, pharmacology, pharmacy and nursing are included in the committee.
While the Premier was all smiles about the development, other medicinal cannabis advocates in Victoria have been less impressed with the government’s approach.
Mia Mia mother Cheri O’Connell, who has used cannabis products to treat her children with epilepsy, has repeatedly questioned why existing products could not be considered for treatment.
She was among many people in Victoria who have accessed products – some with far higher THC components than the government’s planned products – for years before the government announced its own production.
Parents also voices their frustration at the slow pace of the program during a Victorian Law Reform Commission forum in Bendigo last year.
The government allocated $28.5 million in the last budget to support the roll out of medicinal cannabis.