Australia's growing medicinal cannabis industry is confident investors will be "more inclined to open their wallets" after Parliament's shock decision to fast track terminally ill patient's access to the drug.
Chris Nasr, founder of medicinal cannabis startup Leafcann, said classing medicinal cannabis as Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) Category A benefits patients and provides stability for the Australian industry to expand.
"It's a very big positive for small business and companies looking to set up to assist Australian patients because it validates the demand model for the market."
The Greens, Labor, One Nation and independents voted to reverse the Coalition's restrictions on medicinal cannabis.
The Australian Medical Association fiercely opposed the changes, which cuts down the time between approved doctors ordering and receiving the medication for their authorised patients.
Only 133 terminally ill patients accessed medicinal cannabis under the previous scheme, with many turning to the black market during the months-long wait time.
Health Minister Greg Hunt labelled the move "reckless and irresponsible", paving the way for dodgy overseas products and criminals accessing illegal drugs.
Mr Nasr said "when the changes have many more positives and far outweigh the negatives of the decision, then it would have been reckless and irresponsible if it didn't pass."
Rhys Cohen from medicinal cannabis leadership program Cann10 Australia said the changes make it easier for patients to access the medicine and get data about how it is used in a clinical setting.
"We're now a large step closer to the frontier that we were already hoping we would get to," he said.
"This isn't changing anything fundamental with the way cannabis is regulated in Australia other than making it easier for patients who desperately need it to access it."
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