A cancer patient in agonising pain has shared graphic pictures of his tumour-scarred back as he calls for cannabis to be legalised.

When Wollongong father Paul Lawrence, 53, wakes up in the morning he feels like he has been 'hit by a train'. 

MGC Pharmaceuticals will grow cannabis in Australia as part of its plan for the medicinal cannabis market.

Releasing a five-point plan for the local market, the company says it is working on applying for a growing license from relevant state departments 

A short time ago, its shares were up more than 10% to $0.031.

Co-founder Nativ Segev says the medicinal cannabis market in Australia is an emerging opportunity for Australian patients, growers and the pharmaceutical industry. 

“As Australia places itself on the global medicinal cannabis map, MGC Pharmaceuticals plans to play a crucial leadership role in the development of the domestic industry,” he says.

The five point strategy:

A study by the University of Sydney has estimated that Australians will consume up to 8,000kg of medical cannabis during the first year of it's legalisation, potentially creating a $100 million industry during the first year alone.

The white paper, Medicinal Cannabis in Australia: Science, Regulation and Industry, produced by the University of Sydney Business School and medical cannabis company MCG Pharmaceuticals, is the first of its kind to study the logistic, economic and medicinal benefits of an Australian medical cannabis industry. The data used in the study was pulled from sales trends in Israel, Canada and the Netherlands when they legalised medical cannabis.

Medical cannabis will be a long-term prospect, and many patients have unrealistic expectations of the drug

Legislation on medicinal cannabis is a good move for the management of health conditions where these products can meet a therapeutic need, says Kos Sclavos.

Under the new arrangements, patients with a valid prescription can possess and use a medicinal cannabis product manufactured from cannabis plants legally cultivated in Australia, where the supply is appropriately authorised under the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 and relevant state and territory legislation.

This is after other treatments have been shown that they were not successful.

Legalisation and acceptance of medical cannabis as a cure or therapy for certain clinical ailments is gaining global traction.

As cities across the globe act to industrialise medical cannabis, several companies have begun to position themselves as first movers in product development and distribution.

MMJ Phytotech (ASX:MMJ) is one such company establishing itself in this space.

MMJ is developing quickly and has identified key priorities moving forward, one is to leverage its offshore operations in Australia by importing CBD capsules from Switzerland which are similar to those currently selling in Europe.

Legalising medical cannabis would give rise overnight to an industry worth up to $150 million, a new study from the University of Sydney has found.

The NSW government will this year commence clinical trials of cannabis-derived medicine for conditions such as chemotherapy-related nausea. The federal government has also passed laws creating a licensing system for future supply of medicinal cannabis.

But a new white paper from the University of Sydney's business school suggests it would have a major secondary effect: the creation of a multi-million dollar industry centring on the cannabis plant.

US

The hardline drug policies adopted during the 1980s in the “war on drugs”, including mandatory minimum sentences for some drug-related crimes, has led to extremely high levels of incarceration in the country. The US has more than 2 million people in its jails – the second highest rate of incarceration per capita in the world – about half of whom were convicted of drugs-related crimes.

Last February the Turnbull government passed legislation to legalise medicinal cannabis in news that provided a significant boost to ASX-listed ‘pot stocks’ like MMJ Phytotech Ltd(ASX: MMJ).

The company plans to cultivate cannabis on a commercial scale for use in various ‘medicinal’ products usually in the form of oral capsules, with a potentially huge global market of patients.

In fact if everything goes to plan for MMJ Phytotech the only thing higher than its share price could be the cannabis users.

A Queensland father has been handed a two-year good behaviour bond for giving his sick daughter cannabis oil.

The 32-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty in Brisbane's Supreme Court to four counts of supplying a dangerous drug to a minor and one count of possessing a dangerous drug.

The court heard the man's daughter was diagnosed with cancer in 2014 when she was two years old.

She was diagnosed with a stage three neuroblastoma and given a 50 per cent chance of long-term survival.

The Supreme Court in Brisbane heard her father had researched the benefits of medicinal cannabis on the internet, and sourced the drug from northern New South Wales and the United States.

E-CBD This non-psychoactive cannabinoid is currently overtaking THC as the active principle in cannabis that medical professionals and patients alike are most interested in. So what are CBD e-liquids?

CBD e-liquids are joining CBD food supplements as the latest stage of the on-going quest to find more effective and healthier ways of consuming cannabidiol. This non-psychoactive cannabinoid is currently overtaking THC as the active principle in cannabis that medical professionals and patients alike are most interested in. So what are CBD e-liquids?