SUNSHINE Coast Mayor Mark Jamieson says the council's years of hard work on medicinal marijuana partnerships are an important part of a Coast-based business being awarded the first Queensland licence to commercially produce the drug.
Medifarm announced on Friday it had been granted Queensland's first commercial cultivation and production licence from the Federal Government's Office of Drug Control.
Cr Jamieson said the council had been instrumental in connecting local and international partnerships and wanted to ensure the Sunshine Coast led Australia in progressing medicinal marijuana.
He said an exclusive agreement formed with Israel's leading medicinal marijuana producer would provide access to more than 10 years of clinical research.
It is also expected provide access to plant strains designed to assist in the treatment of specific illnesses.
"This exciting announcement gives the green light for many local patients to access evidence-based quality products assured to the highest Australian standards,” Cr Jamieson said.
He said Medifarm's licence was the culmination of years of hard work and dedication by the council's economic development team.
The breakthrough is expected to provide the Sunshine Coast with an opportunity for local employment and investment attraction in the $20 billion global industry.
"This has been identified as an emerging opportunity in the Health and Wellbeing High Value Industry and Investment Plan, an outcome of the Sunshine Coast Regional Economic Development Strategy,” Cr Jamieson said.
