Australia's largest medicinal cannabis grower, which is backed by finance sector identities Barry Lambert and Chris Cuffe, has decided to stop production here and move to the US where it says the legal framework is much more favorable.
Ecofibre recently completed a $12 million capital raising with cash from Mr Lambert and Mr Cuffe. But it will close a business that has grown cannabis on 340 acres in the Hunter Valley in NSW – used for medical experiments on rats at the University of Sydney during the past year – and move to Kentucky in the US.
Mr Lambert, a BRW rich-lister who last year gave $34 million to Sydney University for research into medicinal cannabis, says a federal law passed this year that was supposed to legalize medicinal cannabis has so many restrictions that it is practically unworkable. He says the law goes well beyond what is required to prevent diversion to recreational use and Ecofibre has made a commercial decision not to apply for a licence under the new law.
"We have an Australian company, Australian seeds, Australian shareholders, but we have to go to America because of the legislation," Mr Lambert said.
