Only months after launching the Stoner Sloth campaign, the NSW government is now applying for a medical marijuana license in preparation to possibly start growing the drug on government land. This, of course, follows legislation passed by federal parliament in February allowing cultivation of medical marijuana as long as the grower has a license.
Announcing on Monday that the state had lodged an application under the federal government’s national licensing scheme to start growing what I can only assume he calls “the dope”, Premier Mike Baird was all smiles. Assuring us that trials on the drug were already under way, Baird described the move as NSW “getting ahead of the curve” with an early application.
‘There are supply arrangements in place for those trials. If they are successful, the state wants to be prepared to supply for medical cannabis purposes,” he went on, adding that it is yet to be decided how much sweet ganja the NSW government will be growing.
However while the government is getting early dibs on this potentially lucrative industry, private citizens will have to wait until later in the year to apply for licenses. Primary Industries and Minister for Lands and Water, Niall Blair however is trying to speed up the process.
“We hope to have a positive result and a relatively quick turn-around because then we hope to be able to move into this area and start the cultivation,” he told the ABC.
Still don’t hold your breath as it seems their solution to the “private citizens can’t grow it” problem being to get the government to pick up the slack. “We might even have to start the cultivation ourselves, as a Government, on DPI [Department of Primary Industries] sites, so that we can progress this as quickly as we can.” Because of course that makes sense.
However for some, this is all too little too late, as Liberal Democrat senator David Leyonhjelm called in February for the legalization of recreational marijuana use. Calling the bill on medical marijuana “good, but far from perfect”, Senator Leyonhjelm said that while it is a step in the right direction it is “comprised almost wholly of red tape.”
Adding that ‘legalising recreational cannabis use would deprive organised crime – whether Middle Eastern crime gangs, Asian triads, bikie gangs or relatives of Darth Vader – of a major source of income, and relieve police of the cost of finding and destroying illicit crops,” one wonders what is causing the government to continue to drag their feet on this, especially when you consider the boom taxable legal marijuana would be for the Budget and the economy. Nevermind that patients using cannabis to control chronic pain report on average a 64% reduction in their use of traditional pain medications.
Still with state governments themselves looking to be getting into the growing business now, maybe Canberra are just waiting for Baird and co to get their grow houses set up before anyone else can ahead of making the big announcement.
While nothing is clear, there is a chance we might see Baird-Buds or Mull-colm Turnbull on sale in our lifetimes… but don’t hold your breath.
