Melbourne, Australia
January 2018
Loren W.
FACTOID: How to Legalise Real Cannabis for Medical use in 2018? – There are only 2 ways, a legal challenge (more later), or fixing an existing bill (nothing later) or introducing a new bill (lots more later). I know that is 3, there are no current bills that can be amended to help so that takes it back to 2. Cannabis supporting Protests, BBQs, Seminars, Picnics, and Frisbee competitions are lots of fun but they need to be part of the journey to legalisation not the end game. There is a lot of diversity and disagreement in the Australian Cannabis community (and apathy).
For a few years I believe there is a common thread not just diversity. Simplistically, legalization should be it. If folks are against legalization think about that.. if they are against legalization then with respect, then they are part of the problem. Part of the problem or part of the solution ? Peace, love and all the best to you .. adios..
Speaking in MEME – With so many sites, and being an opinionated graphic artist kinda guy, I talk in memes alot. You are welcome to share anything I say or print. Feel free to question ANYTHING I say, no offence will be taken, I know some or all of this seems cray cray.. don’t worry it is.. But it is all actually factual.
FACTOID: Anyone that accessed legal “Medical Cannabis” or CBD in 2015, 2016, or 2017 Did not get it from full spectrum real Cannabis but one of the new things called “Medical Cannabis” that need not include real Cannabis. I will repeat this many times. Those that are anti-Cannabis continue to have folks focusing on a TGA access issues. Change only works when the TGA A & B is bypassed. The government says it is a state issue but the Government then keep interfering with state laws. The FIGHT is not in Canberra but in each state.
So, Happy New Year folks, hard to believe we have over 170,000 followers on twitter (twitter.com/mr_internet and about 1000 more views a day on other parts of social media and here. Thanks you sooo much .. I am so lucky I get to hear and speak to activists all over the world and here in Australia, it is truly humbling. …
To all the messages, conversations, debates, weird gifts, that kind words. The latter I often forget about it until I bump into random strangers / fans that get some benefit out of the truth we are putting out. There is some good news as well with a new Bill to legalise Cannabis in Australia starting in NSW very soon in early 2018. Also a big shout out to the Law Review USA and some other media friends USA.
Well 2017 has been a very big year in Cannabis law reform globally, including in Australia. For Australia not in a good way, globally it is a mixed bag. Now in 2018 it is starting weird between the USA issues and Australia issues impacting the world also.
Note: I started writing this prior to recent announcements by the government, on “conquering the world on pharmaceutical medical Cannabis” in Australia. I will address it at the end. Oddly it plays well into what was already written.
CANNABIS LAW REFORM AUSTRALIA 2017 & into 2018
Medical Cannabis is Now Legal in Australia –The biggest trojan horse of all time in Cannabis Law Reform?
Note One: Those used to information from us / me are also used to absurd amount of links tied to most opinions and facts. This is becuase to many they think is is either narcissistic BS, or just BS. Our / my view is simple, folks can disagree over ideologies, but we should not disagree over the facts. Or as I often say,, another way, we can disagree about what the weather will be tomorrow but should not argue what is was yesterday.
On that note, misinformation and confusion by and from the media and government seems the biggest issue along with apathy for legalisation by so called activists and so-called patient groups not far behind. Some of this is ignorance, some of this is other agendas like the black market are like any others in that they do not want to support what is bad for business.
Focus in 2016, 2017, and now into 2018, turned to the “legalisation of medical cannabis and dealing with the so -called red tape issues. Viewed as a trojan horse, those with an understanding believe, that this is taking attention away from the MUCH bigger picture that changed EVERYTHING, mainly;
What is Medical Cannabis, what is legal and what is illegal.
Note: ‘Cannabis for Medical use’ versus ‘Medical Cannabis Products’. Due to multiple government trickery / word smithing exercises in the media, laws and recent bills, the words “Medical Cannabis” need not include Cannabis in Australia. So here, “Medical Cannabis” with real Cannabis is referred to here as Cannabis for Medicinal use so as not to confuse Cannabis with pharma. More on that below.
A BRIEF REFLECTION” WHAT HAPPENED IN 2014 LEADING TO 2018 – In 2014, parents with sick kids focused nationally on trying to get politicians across the country to agree to legalise Cannabis for medical use. Some agreed. Then in 2015, a national survey showed 94% of the Australia population based on hundreds asked across all age groups, supported Cannabis for medicinal use, a figure that after the promises of 2014 shocked many politicians, the black market, a new industry of fake Cannabis, and the pharmaceutical industry. The result was a concerted decision by government in multiple states and federally, to re-define Cannabis for Medicinal use to “Medical Cannabis” and Medicinal Cannabis products. As a result, ‘Medical Cannabis and Medical Cannabis Products’ in Australia no longer need to include Cannabis, a scary and confusing issue being played out as 2018 begins and backed by laws passed in 2016 and 2017 in Australia.
GOOD VS BAD CBD – WHY CBD IS NOT CAKE – Many in Australia Hemp Industry Also Got Screwed by New Bad Cannabis Laws – In 2016 and 2017, when the definition of Cannabis changed, it had no negative impact on existing Cannabis industry as there is none as Cannabis is illegal of course. However, by adding all these new items to what can be called Medical Cannabis products, it created a new economy and industry in fake Cannabis. An odd victim of this was some legal players in the hemp industry in Australia. When the definition of hemp (the non-medical but good food and construction material cousin of Cannabis) also had its definition changed. The result was hemp that had high CBD and THC over 1% was now classified as “Medical Cannabis”. This meant if some industry folks wanted to keep making hemp products, they had to be under .3% THC, or be classified as Medical Cannabis or all be destroyed and grown again with less THC. This impacted many legal hemp businesses (around 80 in NSW alone). If they chose to be called “medical cannabis” and were cultivating what was until 2017, legal state licensed hemp, they would have to sign up to the government’s new licencing Medical Cannabis scheme, requiring millions in security infrastructure, company equity and tough security and character checks, to bring it up to government standards and a financial relationship with a manufacturer, similar to anf favoring larger pharma companies. The result is many hemp businesses failed, while bigger ones and those with pharmaceutical connections were born as was a new fake industry. Also with many in the hemp industry anti-cannabis, or for removal of all prohibition, the hemp industry is largely not the friend of Cannabis legalisation in Australia. I recently had a “suspected” friendly pro Cannabis ally / activist argue that ALL CBD was good, as all CBD is from Cannabis. A simple enough statement but could not be further from the truth.
BREAKING NEWS – YES, CBD FROM CANNABIS IS STILL ILLEGAL” – Another story the media ignores – Currently those with LEGAL access to CBD in Australia are not getting it from Cannabis. – There is no denying the benefits from CBD in Cannabis. From a simple perspective, CBD is an antagonist to THC in Cannabis, balancing the CBD with the THC. like Ying and Yang and very naturally. This means, despite the hype, CBD only needs to exist in a very small amount like 1:15 CBD to THC It is no coincidence that the United Nations also defines Cannabis as 15:1 THC:CBD. – For instance to aid in curing or slowing cancer, the original Rick Simpson Oil is the same 15:1 Cannabis made into an oil often giving a 50-60% THC to 1-5% CBD. Meanwhile, Cannabis for medical use is still illegal to grow in 2018. Licenses are available, for R&D purposes only per the Office Drug Control (ODC) head, Bill Turner said in 2017, that this prevents human consumption until 2022-2027 due to Australia adopted “Cochrane Gold Standard Testing”, a bureaucratic standard used just to slow progress in this case and manipulate the lack of real access by the government. This combined with Australia choosing to hide behind the UN Drug act that countries like the USA have ignored and others like Isreal and Cannada have simply offered amendemts to allow Cannabis for medicnal purposes.
NOTE: Why Hemp is NOT Cannabis & Cannabis is not hemp- & why you hate me but I dont hate you unless you hate me.
Though many (not all) in the hemp industry hate Cannabis law reform or correctly see it as a threat to some hemp businesses and eco-systems they are not the same thing at all. The confusion is on many levels, but simply correctly or incorrectly, hemp and Cannabis/Marijuana share the botanical plant genus (Cannabis L.). Many experts think this is a mistake. Regardless of that factoid, they are different hemp and Cannabis, in how they work in the human body so thus they ARE different. We know this due to genetic work on Cannabis that proved it thanks to a Dr Paige more in detail here. – http://bit.ly/Cannabis-Genome2
CBD FROM HEMP – IS NOT THE SAME AS CBD FROM CANNABIS – Firstly CBD again is also not the enemy here any more than hemp itself, but neither is all CBD the same or even safe or tested.
While Cannabis activists, politicians, and patients petitioned for Cannabis for medical use instead they got Medical Cannabis with hemp, isolates and pharmaceuticals all being the new “medical cannabis” and all different.
Until now hemp is not the same medical use as cannabis. The industry even got sued in 2014 in the USA when folks initially were being confused by CBD hemp vs CBD Cannabis. This resurfaced in 2017, when the FDA
Hemp can also work well in tinctures, but again in most cases Cannabis is FAR better internal medicine we can say more so than hemp on a huge scale. Hemp is also a good food plant, high in omega 3 oils, and a raw material for the manufacturing industry, including cement products plastics etc, but not medicine like Cannabis. When the initial Charlotte’s Web Cannabis strain appeared to help children with seizures it helped to highlight the need for cannabis for seizures in children especially. However, it was a hybrid of hemp and Cannabis, with very very low THC but mainly hemp – Remembering per above, CBD works best as an antagonist to THC, this means in the case of a CBD hemp, with no THC, it becomes that different medicine to Cannabis CBD on a few levels. and per above again showing hemp and Cannabis are NOT the same medicine. The point of this is that, many that used Charlotte’s web evolved to using CBD from Cannabis instead, as the lack of THC meant it quit working for many http://bit.ly/charlotte-issues . In 2017 this means hemp products and hemp medicines are legal. Many believe the lack of the government interest in allowing even CBD hemp medicine being allowed in Australia is due to the government knowing that it will not work and calling hemp CBD medical cannabis (only in Australia) is a big risk.
CBD PHARMA – IMPORTED INTO AUSTRALIA – WITH NO TESTING – When the pharmaceutical industry decided to get into the fake Cannabis business.
Ironically, where the government could allow patients to import real cannabis for medical use, under the bureaucratic TGA A and B standards that allows (on paper) patients to import current illegal Cannabis products without testing at patients own risk it is still blocked. However on the same standard the government has allowed the import of new Pharma CBD products and CBD isolates , we will get more into that.
A bit more on What is Medical Cannabis is
While the media correctly focusses and obsesses with the red tape issues as guided by government, and the anti-Cannabis brigade, bigger issues have been totally ignored.
WHAT IS LEGAL MEDICAL CANNABIS AND WHAT IS ILLEGAL MEDICAL CANNABIS IN AUSTRALIA
With Cannabis being only a single item of many in the list of medical cannabis products, it is easy to be confused on what is legal, what is illegal, what is accessible what is not, and what is legally able to be grown and what is not.
With the law changes in late 2016 and into 2017 clarity was not included unless folks asked the right people the right questions as the media was not reporting any of it in 2017.
LICENSING PHARMA CANNABIS – The Australia Government announced in early 2017 that medical Cannabis products were now legal and the people / industry could apply for licenses to grow medical cannabis for medical cannabis products. Exactly WHAT could be grown was simple, based on the “legal” demand of the product, to be manufactured, the manufacturer would dictate what could be grown and now much in line with legal demand and keeping to all governemnt and UN guidlines. That would be researched and verified via surveys etc to see the interest level in “medical cannabis” (ignoring that 99% of the population would not know that medical Cannabis did not include Cannabis). In 2017 dozens of “medical Cannabis” surveys appeared, none explaining it was about hemp or pharma, not CBD from Cannabis.
WHAT IS LEGAL DEMAND ? –
This is where it gets sneaky, demand is based on what products are legal to be prescribed, per all the other bills / laws in 2016-2017. Unfortunately, Cannabis is STILL viewed as not legal for any conditions, so no licenses could be offered to grow real Cannabis for medical use as there was no “legal” demand.
However, R&D licenses would be allowed and the government (Bill Turner ODC) said, this meant 5-10 years testing. This detail escaped the media. The result was wide spread news that Medical Cannabis had been legalised in Australia and various states were fighting to show off their new industry, Medical Cannabis with no Cannabis (hemp).
An Australia announced a $34m donation and initiative to research medical Cannabis in Australia and in early 2017, it moved away from Cannabis to Hemp. They went on TV initially to talk about the benefits of Cannabis. Then with the laws not going their way, they bought into the hemp industry and even announced in another video that hemp and Cannabis were the same thing.
Unfortunately, even use of hemp slowed the government showed no signs of moving forward, so they began a new project (greenlight) to highlight the benefits of Medical Cannabis with no Cannabis. Taking an anti-cannabis position soon drew attention form the same community they claimed to support so the anti- Cannabis rhetoric was slowed down after full page adverts for the new industry were produced.
A new war on drugs had began in Australia and Australia alone. Not just a war on drugs but a war on the the truth on Cannabis.
WHY HEMP IS NOT CANNABIS AND WHY CANNABIS IS NOT HEMP
It is worth noting that the young Cannabis industry sued and threatened the hemp industry in the USA in 2014, over confusing claims that CBD hemp was the same as CBD Cannabis. This resulted in the hemp industry issuing letters to clarify that CBD from hemp was not medicine, and that CBD hemp was not the same as CBD Cannabis. Though Australia law differs from the global definition it is quite clear of the differences. Hemp is mainly an industrial product but can be a food product with lots of vitamins, omega oils etc. . Hemp has little to no THC (defined as 1% or .3% THC) globally. Cannabis is defined by the United Nations, and pretty much globally as being 10% or higher THC and 1% or lower CBD. That makes them dramatically different. Hemp can be grown to be high in CBD, but if high in THC becomes Cannabis a different plant. Both hemp and Cannabis are of the same plant genus Cannabis Linnaeus, but many experts think this is a mistake, that aside scientific research went further and verified this (see below).
The early impact of all of this is that in the 60’s and early in 2001, is that Cannabis was discovered to work best when it included the 110 cannabinoids, and 400 other elements combined. Two of those cannabinoids being THC and CBD. Therefore Hemp with no THC would not allow for the medicine to work the same way. Not to say CBD is bad just the opposite, but the kind of CBD is different.
The pharmaceutical industry went further and introduced pure CBD products and even pure THC products, but they were not natural and do not work the same way. In most cases they are not even tested, yet are being imported into Australia by the Australia government, and select pharmacists.
This has created a good vs bad CBD issue.
CANNABIS FOR MEDICAL USE GETS A SHOT AT BEING LEGAL IN 2017, AND NO ONE PAID ATTENTION –
Due to government opposition and other aspects a bill in early 2017, to legalise Cannabis go little support…
THIS WEEK IN WEED TV 