Tag: Australia

Cannabis cultivation has become more sophisticated in recent years due to various factors. One major factor is advancements in cultivation technology, including climate control, lighting, and feeding technology, to name a few areas.

Another contributing factor is sheer necessity born out of modern cultivation and harvest policies and regulations. Many jurisdictions around the world require cannabis to be cultivated outside of public view, and in some cases, in locked indoor facilities.

Several jurisdictions, particularly European markets, have end-product standards that make outdoor cultivation difficult from a product compliance standpoint. Cannabis products to be sold in regulated European markets must be GMP compliant, and that is a hard threshold to meet when the raw cannabis inputs for products are cultivated completely outdoors.

A team of researchers affiliated with the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and Southern Cross University in Australia recently examined the use of far-red light technology and cannabis cultivation to see how far-red light affects plant yields. The study’s findings were published in the academic journal Scientific Reports.

“Far-red (FR) light elicits two distinct processes in plants. First, a shade avoidance response which is triggered when the ratio of red to FR (R: FR) declines. Second, it interacts synergistically with higher frequency wavelengths of light (e.g. red or white) which improves the efficiency of photosynthesis.” the researchers wrote.

“We investigated whether we could harness these phenomena in medicinal Cannabis to improve yields so that the duration of the photoperiod could be reduced to 10 h (“10L”) whilst returning similar or improved yields compared to a 12 h photoperiod (“12L”).” the researchers also wrote.

Energy consumption is an increasing concern for the emerging global cannabis industry from a sustainability standpoint. It is also a financial concern for legal cannabis producers being as the cost of energy is rising around the world. With that in mind, reducing photoperiod time while maintaining, or even better increasing, overall yield is significant.

“The THC concentrations were elevated in both high THC varieties by the different FR treatments. In Hindu Kush the concentration of THC was elevated by the addition of 4 h of total FR (“10L_2_2D”), and in Northern Lights total cannabinoid yields were increased by nearly 70% over the 12 L control (0.43 versus 0.25 g Plant^− 1) by the addition of 2 h of FR in darkness after 10 h of light (“10L_2D”).” the researchers determined.

“Our results show a strong yield and quality advantage in high THC lines treated with end-of-day FR treatments. Furthermore, a lighting schedule of 10L_2D instead of 12 L would result in a saving of 5.5% in power usage and resultant emissions.” the researchers concluded.

It is worth noting that this study was fairly limited in size and scope, and that further research needs to be performed before there is a final answer regarding the benefits of incorporating far-red light into cultivation strategies. However, the results of this study are still insightful and give producers things to consider.

To some people, insomnia may not seem like a serious health condition, however, anyone who suffers from major insomnia will be the first to point out that it can have a negative and significant impact on a person’s life and their overall well-being.

The Mayo Clinic defines insomnia as “a common sleep disorder that can make it hard to fall asleep, hard to stay asleep, or cause you to wake up too early and not be able to get back to sleep.” Chronic insomnia occurs when the sleep condition lasts longer than a month.

In addition to making a person feel tired and drained throughout the day, insomnia can also be an indicator of a person experiencing one or more other potentially serious health conditions. A team of researchers affiliated with the University of Sydney recently conducted a study that found that after one year of medical cannabis use, subjects experienced improved sleep.

The results of the study were published in the academic database PLOS One earlier this month.

“We aimed to assess overall health-related quality of life (HRQL), pain, fatigue, sleep, anxiety, depression, and motor function in a large real-world sample of patients prescribed medicinal cannabis. We previously found all patient-reported outcomes improved in the first 3-months and hypothesised that improvements would be maintained to 12-months.” the researchers stated.

“The QUEST Initiative, a multicentre prospective study, recruited adult patients with any chronic health condition newly prescribed medicinal cannabis oil between November 2020 and December 2021. Participants identified by 114 clinicians across Australia completed validated questionnaires at baseline, then 2-weeks titration, and 1-,2-,3-,5-,7-,9- and 12-months follow-up.” the researchers stated about their study’s methodology.

“Statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements in overall health-related quality of life, fatigue, and sleep disturbance were maintained over 12-months in patients prescribed medical cannabis for chronic health conditions. Anxiety, depression, insomnia, and pain also improved over time for those with corresponding health conditions.” the researchers concluded.

Nearly five dozen nations now permit some form of legal access to medical cannabis. Tens of thousands of peer-reviewed studies have focused on the medical benefits of cannabis, finding that it is an effective form of medicine. Legal medical cannabis is big business, too.

According to Persistence Market Research, “the global medical marijuana market is expected to grow from USD 33.1 Bn in 2025 to USD 83.1 Bn by 2032, registering a CAGR of 14.0% during the forecast period.”

A team of health researchers in Australia recently conducted a study examining medical cannabis’ impact on the health-related quality of life of patients who use it. Below is more information about the study via a news release from NORML:

Sydney, Australia: The use of physician-authorized medical cannabis products is associated with “statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements” in patients’ health, according to observational study data published in the journal PLOS One.

Researchers assessed the efficacy of cannabis oil extracts containing standardized ratios of THC and CBD in more than 2,000 patients over one year. (Under Australian law, physicians may authorize cannabis products to patients unresponsive to conventional prescription treatments.)

Consistent with prior studies, patients reported sustained improvements following cannabis therapy.

“Statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements were observed in HRQL [health-related quality of life], fatigue, pain, and sleep for people with chronic health conditions,” investigators concluded. “Similar improvements were found in pain outcomes for participants with chronic pain; sleep disturbance for participants with insomnia; depression scores for patients with depression; and anxiety scores in patients with anxiety. … The findings from this study contribute to the emerging evidence-base to inform decision making both in clinical practice and at policy level.”

Similarly designed studies involving patients enrolled in the United Kingdom’s medical marijuana access program have shown cannabis products to be safe and effective for those suffering from cancer-related pain, anxiety, fibromyalgia, inflammatory bowel disease, post-traumatic stress, depression, migraine, multiple sclerosis, osteoarthritis, hypermobility disorders, and inflammatory arthritis, among other conditions.

Full text of the study, “Improvements in health-related quality of life are maintained long-term in patients prescribed medicinal cannabis in Australia: The QUEST Initiative 12-month follow up observational study,” appears in PLOS One. Additional information about the therapeutic use of cannabis is available from NORML’s publication, Clinical Application for Cannabis and Cannabinoids.

No responsible cannabis advocate wants intoxicated drivers on public roadways. With that being said, just because someone has metabolized THC in their system does not automatically mean that they are intoxicated, and public policies need to reflect that scientific fact.

One jurisdiction that has struggled with this area of public policy is Victoria, a state in Australia. The Australian state was automatically banning the driving privileges of medical cannabis patients if they were found to have THC in their system while operating a motor vehicle on public roadways. Fortunately, that policy was changed starting on March 1st, 2025.

“Drivers who use medicinal cannabis in Victoria will no longer be subject to automatic licence bans under a new law coming into effect in the state. From the 1st of March, such motorists will have the opportunity to argue in court that they weren’t impaired while driving.” reported SBS News in its local coverage.

The policy change is backed by the findings of a recent study conducted in Australia which found that medical cannabis use does not negatively impact driving performance in experienced users. Below is more information about the study and its findings via a news release from NORML:

Queensland, Australia: Patients who consume botanical cannabis over extended periods do not exhibit significant changes in their simulated driving performance, according to data published in the Journal of Safety Research.

Australian researchers assessed patients’ simulated driving performance at baseline and 45 minutes after they vaporized prescribed doses of cannabis flowers. (Under Australian law, physicians may authorize cannabis products to patients unresponsive to conventional prescription treatments.)

“After vaporizing one dose of their prescribed cannabis flower, participants exhibited no significant changes in performance on any of the video-based tasks (hazard perception skill, gap acceptance, following distance or speed) compared to baseline,” investigators reported.

The study’s authors concluded, “The findings … suggest that a dose of vaporized cannabis (consumed in accordance with prescription) may not affect hazard perception ability or driving-related risk-taking behavior among medicinal cannabis patients.”

The study’s findings are consistent with those of several others determining that daily cannabis consumers, and patients especially, exhibit tolerance to many of cannabis’ psychomotor-influencing effects. According to the findings of a literature review published in the journal of the German Medical Association, “Patients who take cannabinoids at a constant dosage over an extensive period of time often develop tolerance to the impairment of psychomotor performance, so that they can drive vehicles safely.”

Full text of the study, “The acute effects of vaporized cannabis on drivers’ hazard perception and risk-taking behaviors in medicinal patients: A within-subjects experiment,” appears in the Journal of Safety Research. Additional information is available in the NORML Fact Sheet, ‘Marijuana and Psychomotor Performance.’