Ann: Quarterly Activities/Appendix 4C Cash Flow Report, page-42

ECS is a licensed importer of Cannabis to Australia. If they saw the demand for this product, one would assume that they would be taking that avenue.

The fact still remains, the Australian cannabis industry is mismanaged. Our regulators are simply not implementing acceptable practice standards for a genuine medication. It seems although they are sabotaging the industry and discrediting it. Despite being an effective therapeutic, there exists no set of high quality standards for the products. At the moment it’s like asking a GP to write a script for a cholesterol medication, but instead of it being a studied and reputable brand coming out of an approved facility, you buy it from a website that ships it in from South America who do not have to comply to a set of standards. I can assure you that the GP responsible would be deregistered if that was the case.

What ECS is spending money on, is a nation wide (currently east coast) education roadshow. Reducing the fear of prescribing Cannabis products and showing that there are differences in prescriptions. If it be a reliable THC content, Organic Certification, EU-GMP quality, The numerous routes of administration etc. ECS has a competitive advantage, because our product is genuinely premium. To get this message across, means that ECS can be the brand name that prescribers go to when they think of Cannabis prescriptions. It sounds crass, but to discredit the cheap importers is vital in both patient outcomes and being successful.

Unfortunately the education system for these products are not engrained into the curriculum as it stands. In Europe, Medical students graduate with extensive knowledge in the area. There are systemic barriers in place within Australia. And as expected, when Pharmaceutical companies are providing substantial funding to universities, what incentive do they have in educating their future prescribers to use an alternate medicine. So as it stands, to be able to prescribe medicinal cannabis, Australian GPs have to take it upon themselves to learn and register to prescribe these products, which just adds another hurdle to nation wide adoption of the practice.

Basically, Australian government and representative bodies that regulate the industry, are blatantly hindering the ability for the local industry to flourish. But, to be the trusted brand in Australia would be ideal. In the meantime, our international customers are more than happy to buy up the supply.