Yesterday was day three of a four-day investigation into the regulatory framework for cannabis in NSW. The investigation is a public hearing.

Discussion surrounded the topics of medicinal cannabis, driving under the influence of cannabis, growing cannabis and the ramifications of underground or hidden cannabis use and police enforcement, the detrimental effects of addiction and the difficulties in getting help.

Locals who went to Invercauld House to speak at the hearing and support a change in the current cannabis laws include Michael Balderstone, Mr David Heilpern - Dean of Law at SCU, Dr Keith Bolton - Founding Director at Ecotechnology, Joel Hardy - CEO at Cymra Life Sciences where medicinal cannabis is grown.  

Others came from around the state to provide supporting evidence through activism or lived experience and treating youth affected by cannabis use.

Cate Faehrmann MP summed up the events surrounding the hearing, “For two days, we'll be hearing from people who are local cultivators, people who have been advocating for changes to the law when it comes to cannabis for a very long time.

“We know that, particularly in the Northern Rivers, our unfair roadside drug testing laws have a big impact on the community here, with quite a few people you know, actually choosing not to drive who use cannabis regularly. 

“Yesterday, we had a full day at Parliament, where we heard from GPs, psychiatrists, Uniting Church representatives - people advocating for a change to our drug laws. 

“A lot of people are advocating for the removal of the criminal penalty, so a decriminalisation model. 

“And of course, I think everybody, almost without exception, is advocating for a sensible change to our drug-driving laws to make sure that the laws catch up with the change in medicinal cannabis regulation.”

The Hon. Stephen Lawrence, MLC, was listening to the testimonies. He spoke about his part in the inquiry, “I'm a member of the committee that's looking into cannabis regulation. We're gathering views and opinions and evidence on this question of how cannabis should be regulated. 

“I have previously expressed support for the decriminalisation of personal possession of cannabis, but that was before I was in Parliament and certainly before I was on this committee. 

“I'm trying to keep an open mind about the issues, but I'm definitely someone who is very concerned about the criminogenic and harmful effects of the criminal justice system, so I tend to be interested in ways to divert people from the system.”

(Dr James Moylan and his submission. As a law reform activist, he has looked at cannabis laws worldwide.)

Dr. Keith Bolton spoke about his lived experience importing hemp, and wholesaling hemp products. “When I was a postdoctoral fellow here at Southern Cross Uni, I got a licence to cultivate hemp, and was using it for mop crops, for irrigating effluent, so looking at fibre plants for effluent reuse.

In Dr Bolton's experience with Ecotechnology, he has 21 employees, 5 Indigenous, who are liable to suffer most from the current regulation, “ I've realised that Aboriginal people and other minority groups are disproportionately affected by cannabis laws. 

“While drugs certainly can and do cause major harm to individuals and society, prohibition greatly exacerbates the harm caused by drugs. The prohibition framework has been around for 80 years now. 

“With respect to cannabis, it's created a massive black market that remains untaxed. It essentially subsidises a black market."

Joel Hardy, spoke of his experience from an economic perspective, “We are federally licensed medical cannabis facilities supplying organic cannabis products to the special access scheme in Australia.

“70% of products on the Australian Medical cannabis market come from imports. And for the first five years of the program, the TGA allowed imports to come in at a lower standard than domestic producers, and we still have unfair advantages for importers over domestic producers in this country.”

Cate Faehrmann testified to the importance of this information, “It's very hard for them to get ahead, so I think something needs to be done about that. That was very useful evidence today, and no doubt we'll be hearing more about it.”

To get a deeper understanding of the economic aspect of cannabis sales, Kyle Wood , the managing partner at South Lismore Chempro, talks about his experience. After the 2022 floods, Kyle looked for innovative ways to keep his business lucrative.  

“Medical cannabis was a rapidly emerging industry. It was something that wasn't filled around here. We felt like it was going to be a significant market, and getting into the online space as well allowed us to overcome our geographical limitations of being in a flooded place in a small town. 

“We started reaching out to a lot of telehealth companies and cannabis clinics to see if we could work with them as a way to maintain our trade. It's grown from there into a fairly significant part of our business. It comprises up to 30% of our business at the moment."

The pharmacy has around 20 staff, but you don't see most of them in the shopfront. Kyle has put in an extra six phones to take orders, and over 100 packages a day are sent to destinations in every state around Australia. This postal service makes up about 80% of their cannabis sales.

“It can be used for anything from pain to insomnia to anxiety and a lot of different things. We have even seen a downturn in the use of opiates with the increase in cannabis prescriptions, but not everything is for everyone.

“There are four main places that the products we sell come from Canada, Australia, Israel and South Africa.”

One of those Australian suppliers is Joel Hardy from today’s summit.

(Michael Balderstone and his partner Carolyn)

Michael Balderstone of Mardi Gras fame added, “I think it's very genuine, the inquiry from the parliamentarians involved trying to work out what's going on. It's been in the shadows for so long, so to get the real facts out and the truth about it, it's difficult.

“Do they realise recreational, medicinal cannabis is exactly the same? There's a lot of mythology to bust up. They'll go home with stuff to think about.”

If you would like to follow the investigation, you can find more information here.