MEDICINAL cannabis pioneer Tony Bower says he is fed up with bureaucratic stonewalling in NSW and will move his increasingly popular dispensary to Queensland.
Mr Bower founded Mullaway's Medical Cannabis after developing a way to access the healing qualities of cannabis without the notorious side-effects, offering welcome relief to people suffering chronic pain and terminal illness.
Hundreds, possibly thousands, of people on the NSW North Coast who previously struggled with the often debilitating side-effects of prescription painkillers have attributed significant relief from chronic pain and improvement in quality of life to Mr Bower and his medicines.
"There are so many sick people relying on me to provide these medicines (but) after two years of attempting to negotiate with the NSW Government, a way forward needs to be found for terminally and chronically ill patients to have access to a safe, effective, inexpensive, natural and legal medicine," he said in a statement.
"For 12 months I have had approval from the Therapeutic Goods Administration to proceed, and my consultants have since been waiting on the NSW Government."
Mr Bower has been operating his fast-growing mobile dispensary between Port Macquarie and Nimbin for two years, but can no longer keep up with demand.
He has decided to apply to operate in Queensland, where he believes a $5.2 million medical extraction facility could be built.
"This facility needs to be built soon, the need is pressing, and it could easily employ up to a 100 people within two years," he said.
"I apologise to the people of the Kempsey-Port Macquarie and Nimbin areas, but hope they will understand that any decision to try to establish elsewhere is for the sake of the people who are suffering now — their situations cannot wait for political delays."
Following a serious motorcycle accident 30 years ago, Mr Bower developed a method to distil a stable tincture capable of providing effective relief for sufferers of chronic pain.
He has since successfully treated sufferers of cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, arthritis, mig-raines and a host of other illnesses. A form of pharmaceutical cannabis called Marinol is available under strict conditions.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Northern Star
Author: Dominic Feain
Contact: Northern Star
Copyright: 2010 APN News & Media Ltd
Website: Cannabis pioneer choked by red tape
Mr Bower founded Mullaway's Medical Cannabis after developing a way to access the healing qualities of cannabis without the notorious side-effects, offering welcome relief to people suffering chronic pain and terminal illness.
Hundreds, possibly thousands, of people on the NSW North Coast who previously struggled with the often debilitating side-effects of prescription painkillers have attributed significant relief from chronic pain and improvement in quality of life to Mr Bower and his medicines.
"There are so many sick people relying on me to provide these medicines (but) after two years of attempting to negotiate with the NSW Government, a way forward needs to be found for terminally and chronically ill patients to have access to a safe, effective, inexpensive, natural and legal medicine," he said in a statement.
"For 12 months I have had approval from the Therapeutic Goods Administration to proceed, and my consultants have since been waiting on the NSW Government."
Mr Bower has been operating his fast-growing mobile dispensary between Port Macquarie and Nimbin for two years, but can no longer keep up with demand.
He has decided to apply to operate in Queensland, where he believes a $5.2 million medical extraction facility could be built.
"This facility needs to be built soon, the need is pressing, and it could easily employ up to a 100 people within two years," he said.
"I apologise to the people of the Kempsey-Port Macquarie and Nimbin areas, but hope they will understand that any decision to try to establish elsewhere is for the sake of the people who are suffering now — their situations cannot wait for political delays."
Following a serious motorcycle accident 30 years ago, Mr Bower developed a method to distil a stable tincture capable of providing effective relief for sufferers of chronic pain.
He has since successfully treated sufferers of cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, arthritis, mig-raines and a host of other illnesses. A form of pharmaceutical cannabis called Marinol is available under strict conditions.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Northern Star
Author: Dominic Feain
Contact: Northern Star
Copyright: 2010 APN News & Media Ltd
Website: Cannabis pioneer choked by red tape
