The South Australian government will consider lobbying the commonwealth to change laws and regulations considered barriers to the development of a medicinal cannabis industry in the state.

The government has also brought key stakeholders together to consider economic opportunities that exist for medicinal marijuana and also for the production of industrial hemp.

Industry associations, lobby groups, research bodies, companies and government departments met on Monday to discuss the potential future for both sectors.

Manufacturing Minister Kyam Maher said the state government did not want to stand in the way of economic progress.

"We will look at what needs to be changed and then let the market decide," he told reporters.

On Jan. 26, 2017, Queensland Health announced the release of initial medical cannabis guidelines for medical practitioners in Queensland, Australia.

“These new Guidance documents provide health practitioners with information about what is allowed to be prescribed, the form it will come in and information about dosing and direction on the best sources of information that can be obtained in relation to medicinal cannabis prescribing,” said Cameron Dick, Minister for Health and Minister for Ambulance Services.

Hey mate, wanna buy some pot… stocks? Yes, Australian medical cannabis companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange are hot items right now. But as investors rush to get in on the ground floor of a nascent market, things aren’t always working out as planned.

Consider MMJ Phytotech. Shareholders who bought into the company last year might now be scratching their heads. Since February 2016, the company’s share price fallen by roughly 40 percent.

Things had looked promising for the young Australian pharmaceutical firm. It had struck a reverse takeover deal that allowed it to enter the Canadian medical market, and it was in the process of setting up a “farm-to-pharma” supply chain that tied together production, research, and manufacturing.

QUEENSLAND doctors will be warned not to prescribe the strongest forms of medicinal cannabis to anyone under 25 years of age, in new guidelines to be sent out across the state.

The Queensland Health guidelines recommend doctors do not prescribe any medicinal cannabis products containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – the main psychoactive ingredient of cannabis – to children or young adults due to a belief they are more harmful than other forms of the drug.

The guidelines – due to come into effect in March – also caution doctors that they will bear full responsibility for any medicinal cannabis they prescribe to patients.

They also repeatedly state that medicinal cannabis products are untested and their safety and efficacy are unknown.

Some of Australia's most high-profile medicinal cannabis advocates have banded together to launch a new campaign for better access to the drug.

Federal legislation passed last year was supposed to give patients access to cannabis for medicinal use but Lucy Haslam and Barry Lambert said it was harder to get than ever before.

They are asking Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull for an amnesty on compassionate suppliers and for new Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt to take this opportunity to fix the regulations.

Medicinal cannabis company Creso Pharma, which aims to launch two medicinal cannabis pet products by April, has been registered by the EU health authority.

An Australian pharmaceutical developer has received the European Union's first ever health registration to commercialise medical cannabis for pets.

ASX-listed Creso Pharma is now registered with the EU and is in the process of applying for a global import and export license as it aims to sell two cannabidiol-based pet products by April.

The products, which are essentially food additives for horses and dogs, are designed to help target behavioural disorders including anxiety and noise phobias as well as chronic pain, arthritis and diabetes.

PM says government doesn’t have power for an amnesty and also says it’s unlikely classified information leaked when ministers’ Yahoo accounts hacked.

Malcolm Turnbull has rejected One Nation’s proposed medicinal cannabis amnesty, saying the government does not have the power and an amnesty for dangerous illicit substances would be “irresponsible”.

In an interview with ABC radio in Brisbane, the prime minister also reassured Australians that it was “unlikely” classified information had leaked as the result of Yahoo accounts of ministers being compromised in 2013.

A roundtable to examine the potential to establish industrial hemp and medicinal cannabis industries in South Australia will be held at the end of the month.

It comes only months after the Federal Government changed the law to allow the controlled cultivation of cannabis for medicinal and scientific purposes, and just weeks after an Adelaide woman who was supplying cannabis oil products to terminally ill people had her property raided.

Unlike in some other states, it is illegal to grow hemp plants in South Australia and nationally medicinal cannabis can only be grown with a licence.

2016 is a year that will live in infamy, but one clear winner across the board was cannabis. The United States watched as eight more states legalized cannabis for medical or recreational purposes, and the ripple effect of legalization has been felt throughout the globe. 

Revel in these states' and countries' cannabis victories and look to the future with renewed optimism. What will 2017 bring? We can't wait to find out!