Imported Medical Marijuana In Australia Not Tested For Quality, Canada’s Cannabis Industry Eager For Tax Cut & More
Australia: Imported Medical Marijuana Is Sold Without Testing According To Standards
Many medical marijuana products dispensed in pharmacies across Australia are labeled “Australian made,” which feels a bit misleading for some patients because this doesn’t necessarily mean that they are made with cannabis that is grown on the continent.
Under the rules enforced by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), medical marijuana products sold to Australian consumers can be cultivated anywhere in the world. “The ‘Australian made’ claim is about the production process rather than content of a product,” a spokesperson for the Australian Made Campaign told the ABC.
The TGA has admitted that it is not testing imported marijuana for quality.
Now, Australian medical marijuana growers want imported plants to be tested and their producers held to domestic standards.
ECS Botanics managing director Nan-Maree Schoerie explained that domestic growers had to follow strict rules usually not seen in other countries. “There’s a lot of attention to making sure that the product that the customer gets is clean,” Schoerie told the outlet. She added that the “loophole” in TGA’s rules enables importers to lower costs and undercut domestic cultivators.