Victoria becomes the first Australian state to legalize medical cannabis

The State of Victoria has become the first Australian state to legalize the use of medical cannabis.

Children with severe epilepsy will be the first to access cannabis-based treatments from 2017, Victoria's Health Minister Jill Hennessy said after Parliament voted on the bill. Access to Medicinal Cannabis.

The new legislation allows for the cultivation, supply, and access to medical cannabis products.

«We're starting with these severely epileptic children, whose lives will improve dramatically, because we know these children generally don't reach adulthood,» Ms. Hennessy said.

«We want to improve the quality of their life.»

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She also said that this meant parents were buying cannabis illegally up until then.

«I think in this day and age, it is unfair and unacceptable to ask a parent to make a decision between obeying the law and acting in their child's best interest,» she said. «These parents will no longer have that dilemma.».

Access to medical cannabis, in the form of tinctures, oils, capsules, sprays, or vaporizable liquid, will be gradually rolled out, and quickly accessible as palliative care and for people living with HIV.

The Victorian State Government has yet to establish a Medical Cannabis Bureau to oversee cannabis cultivation and educate doctors and patients on their roles and eligibility for the program. For now, it will oversee a small, strictly controlled plantation at a research institute.

An independent body will also provide advice on the introduction of medical cannabis, which is also legal in 23 states in the United States, Spain, and Israel.

L’Australia legalized in February 2016 the cultivation of cannabis for medical and scientific purposes. The states of Queensland and New South Wales should follow suit and make medical cannabis accessible to epileptic patients or those who tolerate chemotherapy side effects poorly.