Tasmanian medicinal cannabis farm to triple production as demand skyrockets
Tasmania is proving to be the perfect place for growing special “pot” plants, providing bountiful harvests of medicinal cannabis.
“The Tasmanian climate is wonderful for growing cannabis, it’s very dry, it doesn’t get too hot,” Tasmanian Botanics chief executive Dan Howard said.
The company grows medicinal cannabis both outside and inside at its farm and processing facility in southern Tasmania.
A new one-hectare greenhouse will more than triple its production.
“We’re currently producing in our greenhouse about 1,000 kilograms of dried flower on an annual basis, combined with about 1,000 kilograms of dried flower from our outdoor operation as well,” Mr Howard said.
“In our new space, it’ll be about 3,500 kilograms of dried flower in the greenhouse and then next summer, we’re hoping to draw about 1.8 tonnes of dried flower outside.”
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The expanding business is hoping to capitalise on Australia’s booming medicinal cannabis industry.
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Professor Iain McGregor from the University of Sydney’s Lambert Initiative said about 400,000 patients had accessed legal medicinal cannabis in Australia since 2016.
About a million scripts have been written and 6,000 doctors are registered to prescribe.
“There’s been a dramatic increase in the number of prescriptions issued for medicinal cannabis in the past few years,” Dr McGregor said.
Cannabis is prescribed for a range of conditions, from chronic pain to anxiety and depression.
It is not on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, so patients pay full price, but that has not dampened demand.
Dr McGregor said there were now 16 doctors in Tasmania who were authorised to prescribe it.
And Tasmania’s Health Department said more than 1,500 Tasmanians had accessed medical cannabis products since 2021.
“It’s a revolution compared to where we were in 2016 when access was first granted,” Dr McGregor said.
Hobart pharmacist Monique Licht fills about 10 to 20 medicinal cannabis scripts per day.
“I’ve got people from age five to 100 on it … there’s actually a wide uptake in children and in the elderly,” she said.
Calls to change advertising regulations
Tasmanian Botanics is hoping the fact it is a local company will help boost future demand.
It wants to see tough regulations around advertising eased a little, at least so it can reveal to its customers that its product is local.
“We can’t make any claims,” Mr Howard said.
“We can’t make any suggestions of the efficacy of the product, or really even the quality of the product. So it’s very difficult to inform doctors and patients of what those differences are.”
Mr Howard said international medicinal cannabis companies were taking advantage of that situation and dumping their oversupplies in Australia at cheaper costs.
“They’re able to sell it often at a loss just to get rid of it … it’s certainly a hindrance on the Tasmanian and Australian producers that you have foreign products coming in at cut rates,” he said.
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Robert Mallett from the Tasmanian Small Business Council agreed.
He has urged the Tasmanian government to reduce regulation around the industry.
“It’s a shame, we’ve got so much regulation that makes it so very difficult for them to bring that product to market,” he said.
“The only thing that limits our success in this state is our closed mind,” he added.
ABC News: Luke Bowden
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An industry-commissioned report projects that the medicinal cannabis industry will be worth $80 billion by 2024.
Demand is expected to continue to be driven by chronic pain, anxiety, insomnia and cancer pain and symptom management.
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