Comedian Wil Anderson knows a thing or two about chronic pain.

The funnyman and television personality has battled osteoarthritis for years and is open about his daily use of medical marijuana to ease the condition’s crippling impact on his body.

And if that use was legalised in Australia, Anderson believes it would save lives.

”I don’t want to break the law, but I don’t want to bury my eight-year-old child.”

They are the words of a Lake Heights mum that have struck a chord with tens of thousands of people across the country and beyond.

Yvonne Cooper’s eight-year-old daughter, Sienna, suffers from severe seizures and she fears her little girl could die without legal access to medicinal cannabis.

Last week, in a last-ditch plea for help, Ms Cooper launched an online petition that called on state and federal health ministers to fast-track Sienna’s “life-saving access” to the drug. 

Ms Cooper’s change.org petition, titled “Our baby girl is dying in front of us - please help”, has since captured the attention of supporters across the world. 

Adelaide Cancer Centre oncologist Brian Stein said he had abandoned an attempt to complete the application process to provide the drug on a one-off basis and bemoaned the “arduous” process.

It was a big week for medical cannabis in Australia last week, with Queensland’s Labor government announcing that it will allow licensed cannabis growers in the state to sell cannabis seeds to other growers and manufacturers.

Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries Bill Byrne made the announcement on Friday afternoon, after changes were made to the state’s drug laws earlier in the week.

MMJ's Australian distribution partner has received import licence.

MMJ PhytoTech’s (ASX:MMJ) Australian distribution partner, HL Pharma, has received approval for a medicinal cannabis importation licence from the Department of Health, Australia.

This is an important development for MMJ as it enables the direct supply to Australian pharmacies through its strategic partnership with Melbourne-based HL Pharma.

Aurora Cannabis Inc. (the "Company" or "Aurora") (ACB.V) (ACBFF) ( Frankfurt : 21P; WKN: A1C4WM) is pleased to announce that it has committed to taking part in the initial public offering ("IPO") of Cann Group Limited ("Cann Group") on the Australian Stock Exchange ("ASX") as the cornerstone investor, securing a 19.9% stake in Cann Group, the first company in Australia ever to be licenced for research and cultivation of medical cannabis for human use.

A request to make medical cannabis more affordable has been rejected by the Australian government.

Queensland’s Minister for Health, Cameron Dick said he thought the cost issue should be addressed.

He wrote to Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt last month to request the Commonwealth accelerate the process of making medicinal cannabis more affordable by placing it on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

He is now urging Minister Hunt to reconsider his decision.

“As a Government, we’ve put in place the most robust scheme in Australia to allow appropriate patients access to medicinal cannabis,” Minister Dick said.

“We want it to be as affordable as possible, but that ball is now in the Commonwealth’s court.

More than a year after the Australian government legalized medical cannabis, patients in South Australia are still waiting for a scheme to effectively access medicine.

One lawmaker, Greens MP Tammy Franks, has criticized the government’s handling of the access issue as “offensive” and “a joke”—and she’s now leading the charge for reform.

Australian Cannabis Corporation founder Ben Fitzsimons has vowed to keep the business in South Australia despite high-profile backer Shane Yeend threatening to take his investment overseas and sue the Premier for “verbal assault”.

Speaking on radio this morning, Yeend accused Premier Jay Weatherill of verbally assaulting him “about a centimetre from my nose” at a Labor Party fundraiser late last year, and threatened to take his investments overseas.

Recalling the alleged confrontation on ABC Radio Adelaide this morning, Yeend said it was “like a Dr Jekyll, Mr Hyde deal: he turned into this tirade, about a centimetre from my nose … swearing”.

“… To be honest that’s not how a Premier should act in my books.”