Somewhere in Victoria sits a highly guarded building that will soon become the home of Australia's first government-sanctioned cannabis crop.



Here, in a research facility shrouded in secrecy, change is coming.



For bio-security reasons, the location of the site remains confidential, but over the next few years, a handful of selected officials will lay the groundwork for a hydroponic scheme that can vastly improve lives.

If all goes according to plan, the state will be growing and distributing its own medicinal cannabis by early 2017, first for about 450 children with severe epilepsy, and eventually, for a range of adults suffering profound pain from diseases such cancer, HIV/AIDS, or multiple sclerosis.



For Premier Daniel Andrews – a former health minister who's heard countless stories about the relief medical marijuana can bring – it's a policy no-brainer. But for hundreds of parents, legalising the product also means they will never again be forced to break the law and potentially face criminal sanctions, simply for trying to improve their child's quality of life.

Prisoners have been growing marijuana inside a Victorian jail. Credit:Theresa Ambrose

"No parent should ever have to make that choice," Andrews said as he unveiled the government's plans this week. "The time has come for us to stop finding reasons not to do this, and instead drag this law into the 21st century."

So how exactly will the scheme work? What if the Commonwealth refuses to give it the green light? And how does the government respond to ongoing concerns – not only about the costs or the potential for criminal infiltration, but also claims that its plans are too small in scale and too slow for patients?