Medical marijuana — dubbed green gold — is forecast to hit $40 billion globally in five years.

Medical marijuana — dubbed green gold — is forecast to hit $40 billion globally in five years as more nations legalise the treatment for pharmaceutical purposes.

Nedlands-based Phytotech Medical recently became the first ASX-listed medical cannabis company and in July will merge with Canadian firm MMJ.

Ross Smith, who founded Phytotech, was previously managing director at Pilbara Mines.

An Australian English teacher has been deported from China after police found a commercial quantity of marijuana in his apartment.

The 34-year-old identified by the Xinhua news service as David Robert Ancel Green was caught with dozens of marijuana plants, a generator, heat lamps, and a fan.

Police also seized music and bird sounds the Australian told authorities he played to his crop.

Video of the raid shows police forcing their way into the man's rented flat in the eastern city of Changshu. The teacher's face in blurred in the video.

Green is said to have lived in the country for 14 years, the ABC reports.

One of Victoria's largest suppliers of medical cannabis has been charged with serious trafficking offences, despite a push by federal and state governments to decriminalise the drug for those suffering from terminal illnesses and chronic pain.

 Police raided the Carrum Downs home of Matthew and Elizabeth Pallett on May 20 and seized more than five kilograms of marijuana and derivative products, before charging the couple with possession, cultivation and trafficking offences.

The disabled pensioners have openly provided cannabis-based tinctures, chocolates and butters to about 80 regular clients, who suffer from medical conditions including multiple sclerosis, cancer, epilepsy and Crohn's disease.

US law enforcement's infiltration and takedown of the Silk Road underground marketplace has turned up yet another court case, with a New Orleans man charged with selling counterfeit shopping coupons through the site, and its successors, on an epic scale.

Governments and communities worldwide are softening their views on cannabis use. Trials of medicinal cannabis have been approved in Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales. And the Australian parliament is currently debating legislation to introduce a government regulator of medicinal cannabis.

The New South Wales Greens will introduce a bill to parliament calling for a ban on sniffer dog operations across the state, describing the current approach as wasteful, dangerous and ineffective. 

Member for Newtown in Sydney's inner-west Jenny Leong and Greens MP David Shoebridge were joined at today's bill announcement by Australian producer Paul Mac and Dan McNamee of Art vs Science, who last year called for a ban at Splendour In The Grass to reduce overdose-related hospitalisations. 

Why does the Canadian government show blatant disrespect for Canadian marijuana growers?

That’s the question many of us are asking when we learn the Canadian government is facilitating a marijuana importation scheme in cahoots with the Australian government and an Australian “medical marijuana” company called AusCann.

AusCann is based on Norfolk Island, off Australia’s coast.

The company says it’s using two hectares of grow space to produce at least a ton of “medicinal cannabis” for export to the Canadian medical marijuana distribution system. It intends to create a “multi-million dollar” business exporting marijuana to Canada.

A new survey will add to the momentum behind a bill to legalise medical marijuana.

More than two-thirds of Australians back the use of medicinal cannabis, according to a new survey likely to bolster support among MPs and senators who are set to vote on the issue in the coming months.

Palliative Care Australia has found 67 per cent of people are happy to see the drug used to help patients with chronic pain and illness – and support is strongest among the elderly.

The survey found people in older age brackets were more supportive of legalisation than the young: 72 per cent of 75 to 84-year-olds are in favour, compared to 62 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds.

A landmark deal to grow a high-strain medicinal cannabis on Norfolk Island for export to Canada is in jeopardy, with the Australian government reviewing the decision.

Last week, Perth-based AusCann Group Holdings was granted a licence by the Norfolk Island government, a self-governing external Australian territory, to grow a high-grade medicinal strain of cannabis. AusCann intends to export its first crop to Canada by July next year.

However, the granting of the licence came after the Australian government passed legislation to abolish Norfolk’s Island parliament and replace it with a local council, which means the island government is effectively in caretaker mode while its laws are brought in line with Australian ones.

Is this Body Shop ad campaign daring or just dopey?

The Body Shop is facing pressure on a number of fronts to drop the latest advertising campaign for its hemp-based skincare products, with social media users and activist group Collective Shout calling out the retailer’s use of an image of a naked man holding an oversized piece of soap in the shape of a hemp leaf.

But one advertising expert says the criticism is just an example of the ongoing “conservative backlash” against advertising that may test some boundaries.