“IT’S bizarre that in the 21st Century we have to hide the production of life saving medicine,” says Dr Andrew Katelaris as he opens the panel to his secret makeshift laboratory hidden inside a bedroom wardrobe.

For more than a decade Dr Katelaris has been brewing his therapeutic cannabis oil in the shadows, away from the watchful eyes of the main medical establishment who have shunned his zealot-like approach to medical marijuana.

Dr Katelaris was struck off the medical register in 2005 for conducting research into the drug. He has been arrested dozens of times and charged for a range of drug offences.

Erin said on Monday that MGC's first range of 15 cannabidiol-based cosmetic products - facial creams, soaps, toners and cleansing masks - is set for commercial launch over the coming months.

"Erin Resources is pleased to announce the imminent launch by MGC Pharmaceuticals Ltd of its initial CBD (cannabidiol) cosmetics product range, with first sales expected to occur by December 2015," Erin said on Monday.

After signing some large US partners early this year, Melbourne delivery software start-up Swift needed to set up an office to support their fast growth in the US.

Now on top of the grocery chains, pizza stores and alcohol delivery start-ups they are already working with, they have brought medical marijuana distributors on board too.

“One of the companies we work with are the Uber for medical marijuana delivery,” co-founder and CEO, Joel Macdonald (pictured) revealed.

“Another is a much larger network that acts as the distribution aggregator between local dispensaries in greater Los Angeles area.”

Swift makes it super easy for businesses to dispatch, track and manage their mobile workforce.

After reporting a green session on Tuesday, the stock price of Plandai Biotechnology Inc (OTCMKTS:PLPL) is once again moving south on the chart. Yesterday, the stock declined more than 3% to close the trading session at $0.125. The company recently confirmed the news of a extended deal with USN following which it will supply Phytofare® catechin complex to the respective company and its associates.

The VP of Sales and Marketing for Plandai said that USN acknowledges the many benefits of phyto-availability™. In fact the group is keen to use the Phytofare component in their absolute best quality products sold to clients. Phytofare® is believed to be a magical component that supplies active ingredients to the blood stream.

How cannabis spread around the world 

There can be little doubt that, today, cannabis is a major talking point throughout many societies around the world, and legal or not, it is used by individuals in the majority of countries across the globe.

The medical and recreational use of marijuana is nothing new – its history goes back tens of thousands of years. But how did cannabis go from standard plant to a much-used recreational drug? How did it spread around the world and establish itself as the controversial substance it is today? And when did it become banned in much of the world?

“Weeds?” “Cookies?” “Mushies?” “Acid?“

That’s how the city center of Nimbin sounds like. Don’t be afraid if on your way to the main street many strangers approach you offering good psychedelic doses…

Also don’t be surprised if you see lot’s of people wearing hippy clothes, women with dreadlocks and hairy armpits and people playing with hoola hoops. That’s all part of the Nimbin’s particular slower paced atmosphere.

Tucked away in the hills west of Byron Bay, Nimbin was once a sleepy little dairying village in a lush setting of farmland and forest. Today, Nimbin is known the world over as Australia’s most famous hippie destination and alternative lifestyle capital.

Advocates say people with epilepsy in Western Australia are the victims of a frustrating Catch-22 situation, forcing many to break the law to access a drug that has been shown to help control seizures.

Bureaucratic approvals have been given for a trial of medical marijuana, but it's proving impossible to locate a reliable supplier of cannabis oil, the critical plant extract.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration has not yet approved any products, both on a local and imported basis.

Kerryn Stamation from Irymple says legislation which would allow her terminally ill husband Bill to be treated with medicinal cannabis oil should have been introduced by the Victorian government years ago.

Victorian Health Minister, Jill Hennessy said earlier this month the government would introduce a Bill into parliament by the end of the year to legalise the use of medicinal cannabis in exceptional circumstances.

Bill Stamation was diagnosed with terminal gastric and liver cancer, seventeen months ago and was given six to 12 weeks to live.

His wife Kerryn said since the 57-year-old was diagnosed with cancer in April last year, his treatment, which has included chemotherapy, meant he has been pumped with all sorts of chemicals.

After signing some large US partners early this year, Melbourne delivery software start-up Swift needed to set up an office to support their fast growth in the US.

Now on top of the grocery chains, pizza stores and alcohol delivery start-ups they are already working with, they have brought medical marijuana distributors on board too.

“One of the companies we work with are the Uber for medical marijuana delivery,” co-founder and CEO, Joel Macdonald (pictured) revealed.

A MAN who admitted to smoking 12 joints a day pleaded guilty to drug possession after police caught him with $2900 worth of cannabis.

On Thursday 60-year-old Lester James Bell appeared in Rockhampton Magistrates Court, where he also pleaded guilty to possessing utensils.

About 8am on September 2 police searched Bell's home and found a clip seal bag containing 64g of cannabis.

But the real find was hidden in a large grey bag, where Bell showed police he kept 375g of cannabis which cost him $2900.

Defence solicitor Cassie Boland said that in 1990 Bell was in a motorcycle accident where he suffered extensive burns and had two fingers and a thumb amputated.

Since then he had not been able to work and was on a disability pension.