News that investors are showing an interest in the ACT as a possible base for a national medical cannabis industry should be greeted as an opportunity that needs to be managed carefully.

With many of Australia's key trading partners including Canada, Israel and 23 states in the US now making cannabis available for medical use, the world is rethinking the classification of cannabis as a dangerous narcotic on par with heroin and LSD.

Cannabis industry: The economic opportunities for the ACT are clear.

Many of the strongest arguments against legal use of cannabis are also being debunked by credible scientific research abroad, and trials in NSW, Victoria and Queensland may further build the case for the use of some strains of the drug, particularly those that reduce the strong psychoactive properties of street pot.

The economic opportunities for the ACT are clear – change appears to be coming, with miners, private investors and others lining up to get a slice of the market estimated to be worth $100 billion a year globally.