Feeling good about medical cannabis investments

Illustration: John Shakespeare It could have once been a stretch of the imagination of Queensland Bauxite shareholders to think that they could be treated to crop updates from the Northern NSW hippie paradise of Nimbin. But the veteran gold fossicker and Queensland Bauxite executive chairman Pnina "Diamond Rose" Feldman has taken to a business founded by a former Nimbin café owner. "Excellent market positioning for the anticipated rapid economic growth in the medical cannabis sector and hemp seed food industry in Australia and globally," trumpeted an ASX announcement by Diamond Rose last week, where she disclosed Queensland Bauxite would buy 55 per cent of the Nimbin-domiciled Medical Cannabis Limited (MCL). Diamond Rose appeared particularly delighted MCL's founder and secretary of the Hemp Party Andrew Kavasilas would continue his groundbreaking research into the benefits of marijuana. The announcement noted how Kavasilas' research included a "quantitative analysis of nutrient loads and heavy metals [not bauxite] in illicit cannabis in order to give impetus to fast tracking developing cleaner safer medical cannabis products". Kavasilas, who also founded the Nimbin Furniture Gallery, meanwhile has been active lobbying for the full legalisation of the green stuff. During a visit to Canberra in February, Kavasilas even found some support from One Nation's Pauline Hanson who reportedly spoke at a rally calling for the full legalisation of marijuana. "I think we've come to the point now where we really have to start asking 'why isn't medical Cannabis legal by now?" said Kavasilas on the Hemp Party website about his trip to the nation's capital. http://www.smh.com.au/business/cbd/no-pain-with-medical-cannabis-investments-20170306-gurfal.html