A SYNTHETIC cannabis that makes users psychotic and gives them apparent superhuman strength has been banned in South Australia.

Attorney-General John Rau added two new synthetic chemicals that mimic cannabis — known by the street names Full Moon and Sinsence — to the list of substances outlawed in the state.

They are believed to be similar to a type of synthetic pot known as Spice, which has become prevalent among homeless people in the US and UK because it is a cheap high, but which has side effects likened to crack cocaine.

The drug increases body temperature, sometimes leading users to strip naked. It has been dubbed “weaponised marijuana” by New York’s police chief because it makes addicts impervious to normal police take-down measures such as Tasers.

International Goldfields (ASX:IGS) has hit a key milestone, completing due diligence for the acquisition of an 85% interest in Uruguay cannabis biosciences company Winter Garden Biosciences.

A parliamentary committee is backing a plan by a cross-section of senators to make medical cannabis available to Australians.

The Senate's legal and constitutional affairs committee recommended the Greens bill to set up a regulator of medical cannabis be passed.

The regulator would be "responsible for formulating rules for licensing the production, manufacture, supply, use, experimental use and import and export of medicinal cannabis".

The committee unanimously recommended the bill's passage, with amendments to ensure scientific evidence is accessed to determine suitably of treatments.

It also wants amendments to ensure medical cannabis products are made available in Australia in line with international obligations.

I WAS stoked when he smoked his first joint.

It’s not what you expect to hear a protective mum say about her responsible young son.

But I was. So was his dad, who has served in the NSW police for 35 years.

Those suffering from chronic or terminal illnesses who use cannabis aren’t your usual criminals. They’re desperate. Other treatments have failed in easing their agonising pain like medicinal marijuana does. But the law sees them as no better than a dealer or thief.

In February, I lost my son Dan, 25, to bowel cancer. In the year leading up to his death, he asked me to help him show Australia the truth about medicinal cannabis. I agreed of course. On reflection I had no idea of where that promise would take me.

A Federal Bill to establish a body to regulate medicinal cannabis should be passed after changes are made, according to a committee that's spent six months working through health, legislative and legal concerns.

The Regulator of Medicinal Cannabis Bill was introduced by Greens leader Richard Di Natale last year with cross-party support.

The Bill follows an extensive campaign from Tamworth's Lucy Haslam, whose son Daniel used medicinal cannabis to overcome the vomiting and nausea he experienced following chemotherapy treatment for bowel cancer.

It seeks to establish a new Commonwealth body, the Regulator of Medicinal Cannabis, with responsibility for regulating the production, transport, storage and usage of cannabis products for medicinal purposes.

A parliamentary committee is backing a plan by a cross-section of senators to make medical cannabis available to Australians.

The Senate's legal and constitutional affairs committee recommended the Greens bill to set up a regulator of medical cannabis be passed.

The regulator would be "responsible for formulating rules for licensing the production, manufacture, supply, use, experimental use and import and export of medicinal cannabis".

The committee unanimously recommended the bill's passage, with amendments to ensure scientific evidence is accessed to determine suitably of treatments.

It also wants amendments to ensure medical cannabis products are made available in Australia in line with international obligations.

The next big thing in autonomous vehicles really is big. At a ceremony at the Hoover Dam last Wednesday, automotive manufacturer Daimler unveiled a self-driving truck – the first to be cleared to drive on US roads.

For the freight industry, the Inspiration Truck holds the promise of a future with fewer accidents, lower fuel costs and well-rested drivers.

PERTH mum Joelle Neville would do anything for her epileptic daughter, including buying her marijuana.

Ava Neville was diagnosed with tuberous sclerosis, a rare genetic disease that causes benign tumours to grow in the brain, and her condition was declared “inoperable” in 2013 after two failed brain surgeries.

“We were told she was no longer a surgical candidate, so we were left with nothing,” her mother said.

Supporters of medicinal cannabis have rallied outside Newcastle court this morning, saying not legalising the drug is inhumane.

Malcolm Ronald Lee was today told he will be sentenced on October 16, after pleading guilty to three offences.

Police say he was growing 119 cannabis plants in his Newcastle home, and was supplying local cancer patients.

Last month, the Premier Mike Baird announcedNewcastle's Calvary Mater Hospital will host Australia's first medicinal cannabis trial.

Cutting-edge medical research often calls for support from science-literate lawyers, no more so than in the legalisation of contentious drugs, such as medicinal marijuana, says Dr Teresa Nicoletti.

Dr Nicoletti (pictured) is a partner at Piper Alderman who is currently advising players in the emerging medicinal cannabis industry in Australia. 

She spoke with Lawyers Weekly following an important breakthrough: the approval of a new medicinal cannabis trial by NSW Premier Mike Baird last week.