Australian Cannabis Corporation plans legal marijuana business for Holden site in northern Adelaide
ADELAIDE’S Holden plant is proposed as the base for a medical cannabis industry that backers claim will be worth $800 million a year and create more than 2500 jobs.
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THE Holden plant at Elizabeth is proposed as the base for a medical cannabis industry that backers claim will be worth $800 million a year and create more than 2500 jobs.
But shareholders in the Australian Cannabis Corporation have blasted the State Government for being slow to react to meeting requests and failing to make regulatory changes the industry needs.
Australian Cannabis Corporation founder Ben Fitzsimons said South Australia “could become the next Colorado’’ if it moved first into the legal cannabis business.
But shareholders in the Australian Cannabis Corporation have blasted the State Government for being slow to react to meeting requests and failing to make regulatory changes the industry needs.
Australian Cannabis Corporation founder Ben Fitzsimons said South Australia “could become the next Colorado’’ if it moved first into the legal cannabis business.
Colorado legalised cannabis for medical and recreational purposes in 2014 and a report in Time Magazine last month estimated it had a $US2.4 billion ($3.2 billion) economic impact on the state.
The report said it had helped create 18,000 jobs, was the state’s fastest-growing economic sector and raised about $US135 million in state taxes.
“We are saying to the government ‘why are you afraid of this?’,’’ Mr Fitzsimons said.
“Why is our thinking restricted to digging a hole in the ground in the desert and burying nuclear waste?’’
He said his struggles to set up business were common in South Australia and pointed to the decision of property developer Con Makris to leave SA and move to Queensland.
“There are guys out there trying to do innovative stuff but they keep hitting the wall,’’ he said. Mr Fitzsimons wants to use half the Holden site to cultivate marijuana crops after Holden closes the doors on its Elizabeth plant next year.
The factory has about 25ha under its roof and the Australian Cannabis Corporation would grow four crops a year hydroponically.
It is not clear what will happen to the site when car manufacturing stops but Mr Fitzsimons said it was possible the State Government could take responsibility for the site in the same way as it did at Lonsdale after Mitsubishi left.
Mr Fitzsimons said the proposal was not just about growing the crops.
The company also had an agreement with an Adelaide laboratory and was interested in becoming a manufacturer of cannabis products, whether it be for medical purposes in pills and oils, or even building and clothing products.
He also said the Australian Cannabis Corporation was interested in setting up research partnerships with the SA Health and Medical Research Institute and the University of SA.
Australian Cannabis Corporation shareholder Shane Yeend says “we want to employ thousands of South Australians’’.
“If SA could grow medical marijuana at the Holden site, using only half of the existing buildings, it could generate $800,000,000 per annum and create over 2500 new jobs,’’ he says in an advert in today’s Sunday Mail.
“After a year, we have managed two meetings and a fluffy generic letter from our Innovation Minster (Kyam Maher).’’
Mr Yeend had asked for a letter from Premier Jay Weatherill supporting their bid for a federal medical cannabis cultivation licence.
The therapeutic benefits of medical cannabis include reducing nausea in cancer patients. It is also believed to help sufferers of multiple sclerosis, and PTSD.
The Australian Cannabis Corporation has not applied for a cultivation licence as yet because, under the convoluted rules, it needs to verify the market place or patient numbers which a manufacturer would have in place before they are able to gain a licence. To help prove it has a market, the Australian Cannabis Corporation launched a website, cannabiscorp.com.au, on Friday for potential patients to register an interest.
A State Government statement provided to the Sunday Mail says meetings have been “facilitated” between the company and representatives from the departments of Premier and Cabinet, Health and State Development, as well as Investment Attraction South Australia. The statement says Investment Attraction South Australia has been working with the company to establish a presence in SA and researching potential sites.
“IASA staff have provided a range of information to help the company understand the legislative and regulatory requirements in South Australia — in line with the recent Federal Government changes — and sourced information from other government agencies at the request of Australian Cannabis Corporation,” the statement says.
A Holden spokesman said the company had no knowledge of any Cannabis Corporation approach but hoped for a productive use for the site, which was available for sale.