Medical Cannabis Grower, Tincture Maker Shames Aussie Cops

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~
Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The director of Mullaways Medical Cannabis Pty Ltd in New South Wales, Australia on Wednesday shamed the police for recently raiding his grow operation, saying he has maintained "clear accountability and transparency" in his business. "All relevant state and federal government departments have been fully aware of Mullaways' operations for years," said Tony Bower.

"I am deeply offended that the New South Wales Police force have brought charges against me under the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act," Bower said. "The medical cannabis seized by police, and the tincture does not fall under the scope of the New South Wales Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act. I intend to vigorously defend the charges."

Ironically, Mullaways tincture -- which contains high levels of CBD and other cannabinoids, but very low levels of THC, the primary marijuana ingredient which gets you high -- is even less psychoactive than Sativex, the legal cannabis tincture manufactured by British prescription drug giant GW Pharmaceutical.

"The medical cannabis tincture does not get people stoned; it is non-psychotropic and is not open to misuse," Bower explained.

​Refer to the Comparison Of Scientific Standards, Sativex Spray & Mullaways Medical Cannabis Ptd Ltd's Tincture Table, below, to see just how far ahead Mullaways is in this respect, compared to the Big Pharma competition.



In contrast to GW's top-down, corporate-centric business model and the prohibitive expense of Sativex, Mullaways says it can provide a low-cost medical cannabis tincture made in Australia which will create many jobs in rural areas. "This means giving the Means of Production back to rural Australia," Bower said.

"It is clear that in the case of Mr Bower road blocks have been thrown up that would not have been there if he had been a multinational pharmaceutical company or the primary seed stock were not related to a recreational drug," Greens MP John Kaye said last August.

Mullaways is a registered company under Commonwealth law. More than two years ago, Bower was approved as a "fit and proper person" by the Commonwealth Therapeutic Goods Administration to hold a drug manufacturer's license.



Mullaways medical cannabis tincture is a therapeutic medicine used for medicinal purposes by chronically ill and dying patients to relieve pain and suffering from cancer, HIV, multiple sclerosis, emphysema, glaucoma, arthritis and other serious illnesses. At all times the medical cannabis used to make the tincture has been grown for therapeutic use, according to Bower.

Each medical cannabis plant seized by the police was even labelled for specific patients. The medical cannabis seized was not destined for the illicit drug trafficking market.

The medical cannabis crop seized by police was a strain of marijuana specifically bred by Mullaways Medical Cannabis to be extracted into a medicinal tincture.



Bower said Mullaways has been open and forthright with all government departments, especially the New South Wales Police.

"I have endeavored to comply with all government requirements for the past three years to get my company up and running and in the interim continue to get the medication free of charge to chronically ill and dying people," Bower said.

Many patients have been using Mullaways medical cannabis tincture for years and all the patients who use it have letters of support from their doctors. Mullaways is the only company in Australia providing medical marijuana.



The only other avenue for patients to access medicinal cannabis is through the Commonwealth Government's Special Access Scheme. This is a long and expensive process, as this product is required to be imported from an overseas medical cannabis company. Many patients are unable to afford this medicine, as it is unavailable on Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

"Australians are provided the possibility of doing things differently," said American medical cannabis researcher Dr. Bob Melamede. "We can act to proactively manage a transition to using medical cannabis as a mainstream product in an orderly and rational manner. We can learn from the mistakes of others."

"I have worked tirelessly to try to please people in government but continue to be treated with disrespect," Bower said. "The patients need their medicine on a daily basis. Does the NSW government have a plan for chronically ill and dying sufferers who use medical cannabis as part of their therapeutic regime?"

Bower said he would also like to make it clear that as an indigenous Australian, "Growing a herbal plant for medicine is part of my culture and my culture does not allow me to refuse chronically ill and dying patients access to my medicine.

"I know that I can help people with my medicine," Bower said. "Almost half of Americans now have access to legal medical cannabis. We need to urgently address the issue here in Australia."

Source: https://www.tokeofthetown.com/2012/03...hames_auss.php

[b00m]

I take my hat off to such a champion