Medical cannabis potential for Australia but stigma still attached

GROWING cannabis for medicinal use has great potential in Australia, but one of the biggest stumbling blocks is the stigma that still surrounds the plant.

Co-operative effort: Jamaican Medical Cannabis Corporation chief executive Diane Scott discusses the global growth of the medicinal cannabis industry with Damon Kitney at the Global Food Forum in Sydney last week. Picture: HOLLIE ADAMS/THE AUSTRALIAN

GROWING cannabis for medicinal use has great potential in Australia, but one of the biggest stumbling blocks is the stigma that still surrounds the plant.

That’s according to Jamaica Medical Cannabis Corporation chief executive Diane Scott, who spoke at last week’s Global Food Forum in Sydney.

The Canadian-based company is expanding globally, with customers in Canada, Germany and Brazil, with two customers in Australia and a future in the United Kingdom.

Ms Scott said she was working with two companies in Australia with a focus on medicinal cannabis.

“We’re very excited about what’s going on here. Australia is a gateway into other oceanic regions,” Ms Scott said.

“You’re doing really interesting research.”

Mental health trials focusing on the use of medicinal cannabis in treating anxiety are underway in Canada according to Ms Scott, along with research into oncology in the US.

“Some people smoke it. Others will use a tincture under the tongue. In Canada we’re moving into edibles, because of the ease of taking it,” Ms Scott said.

The popularity of growing hemp crops in Australia is on the rise, with a large hemp dehulling operation established by Australian Primary Hemp near Geelong last year.

Hemp crops could also boost soil health and value-add for grain growers in Australia. But Ms Scott said she still battles against the stigma of cannabis regularly.

“It depends where you are in the world,” Ms Scott said.

“But in Canada, there’s no stigma.”

When speaking about the business in public, Ms Scott used to refer to cannabis plants as “geraniums” to avoid attracting attention.

“I would never have said I am a cannabis CEO. Today I’m 100 per cent proud to be a CEO of a medicinal cannabis company,” Ms Scott said.

“I’m also an adviser to the UK Centre for Medicinal Cannabis, which is shaping UK legislation right now, and there’s still the stigma. It’s very strict around how you can speak about cannabis in a forum like this, you can’t advocate for the use, you can only speak about the research and the science, and it’s still got that degree of stigma.

“It’s changing. I was here in October, and there was some discomfort. There’s still some. But that has changed in a short space of time.”