A freshly established lobbying group representing cannabis cultivators has launched in Australia, issuing a call for immediate government intervention to prevent what it describes as the imminent collapse of the domestic medicinal cannabis growing industry.
The Australian Cannabis Cultivators Guild, led by Hale Farm director Cade Turland, has written to federal health minister Mark Butler warning of "catastrophic failures across local cultivators" if import restrictions are not put in place.
The letter urges the adoption of a "domestic-first" policy that would allow cultivators to "grow their permitted amounts".
"This is a policy which is aligned with the International Narcotics Control Board rules, adopted by most other countries and should be supported by the Australian Government and enabled via the existing industry regulators," the letter states.
Without government action, the guild warns of a "bleak reality" of business failures and bankruptcies "which will impact Australian supply in the long term".
The letter carries signatures from a range of cultivators, among them ECS Botanics, Tasmanian Botanics, Spring Sciences, Medicinal Harvest, Cann Group, Pharmacrop, Cannaponics, Medtec and Cymra Life Sciences.
Although the concerns raised in the letter are likely to resonate broadly within the local industry, the guild's formation caught some by surprise. Emily Rigby, chair of the Australian Cannabis Cultivators group, was among those who had no prior knowledge of its launch.
One industry observer said: "It seems normal in the cannabis industry for someone to start a new group rather than work with one of the existing groups."
Turland said he and fellow growers felt compelled to bring a "collective energy and approach" to the challenges confronting the cultivation sector.
He said the guild would maintain a "hyper focus" on the domestic market.
"There needs to be an entity that just represents Australian growers," he added.
