A group of grass-loving grannies is embarking on a tour of the east coast of Australia to teach fellow seniors about the health benefits of cannabis.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 3 minutes 51 seconds 3 m 51 s The grannies who advocate for medicinal cannabis use ( ABC Tropical North: Sophie Meixner ) Download 1.8 MB

The idea developed during a road trip to Melbourne last July when four friends, joking about being 'canna nannas', contacted the US-based advocacy group Grannies for Grass.

They were soon the official Grannies for Grass ambassadors for Australia, although they opted to keep the more Australian moniker Canna Nannas.

After an "overwhelming" response at their first workshop on the Gold Coast last September and several workshops elsewhere, the Canna Nannas have scheduled a 2018 tour of regional and metro Queensland and New South Wales.

Their seminars focus on the medicinal use of cannabis products and the importance of incorporating hemp seed into the human diet.

They are open and public about the workshops, which they say provide completely legal advice, despite a heavy police presence in attendance at many events.

But the Australian Medical Association has warned against "miracle cures" and urged patients to follow their doctor's advice.

Current system 'inadequate'

In 2016 the Federal Government passed laws permitting the use of medicinal cannabis in restricted cases, with the Queensland Government legalising access with a doctor's prescription last year.

But availability of the product through the medical system remains fraught with bottlenecks, red tape, and confusion, with only 500 Australians in total now using medicinal cannabis legally.

Ms Lynch said the current system was forcing patients to source cannabis illegally from drug dealers or by growing it themselves. ( Supplied )

Doctors and patients have warned of the continued existence of a thriving black market catering to patients who cannot obtain the product with a prescription.

Canna Nannas co-founder Deb Lynch said the system as it currently stood was inadequate for many patients with an urgent need.

The events instead encourage participants to bypass the medical system and make their own oils, butters and ointments.

To avoid liability the group does not advise patients where they can source ingredients, and demonstrates oil extraction methods on orange peel instead of cannabis.

Ms Lynch said she had lost faith in the medical system to provide relief for her conditions.

"I have inflammatory arthritis myself … [and] I have an autoimmune disease and chronic pain issues from a spinal injury," she said.

"They're all treated successfully with cannabis, which they weren't with mainstream medications."

Police and state government were in attendance, with Mirani One Nation MP Stephen Andrews opening the Canna Nannas event in Mackay. ( Supplied )

Prescription difficulties

She said she made several attempts to obtain a legal prescription but was told there were no doctors in her area who had applied for a licence.

"I've tried to go through legal avenues, I have multiple conditions that I could get a [cannabis] prescription for," she said.

"I'm still in a position where I'm forced to make my own because I don't have any alternative.

"In my case I need a specific blend of specific strains in order to keep control of my autoimmune disease, which is progressive."

It is illegal to purchase cannabis from dealers or grow the crop at home without a licence.

Ms Lynch said the group adopted a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy and participants could walk away confident all information gained was legal.

The Canna Nannas will present seminars at the Sunshine Coast, Beenleigh, Coffs Harbour, Townsville, Rockhampton, and Gladstone in the coming months. ( Supplied )

"We're teaching skills that are completely legal for anyone to know and we are using completely legal products," she said.

"Anybody is entitled to know how to go through these processes and complete these extraction methods so that if they go home and they're in a position where they need to make their own medicine they know how to do it.

"People are screaming out for this information, and the government know they're screaming out but they're ignoring them, they're pretending that they're not even there."

'War on patients'

She said a recent event near Mackay, which attracted 80 people over two days, indicated there was a genuine need for cannabis products in the community that was not being addressed in legislation.

"It really is a war on patients," she said.

"We're not just fighting government, we're fighting the academic medical establishment who … have got absolutely no education not only in cannabis medicine but … the physiological processes behind it either.

"The patients really are the ones who are suffering through all of this and it's about time it stops."

Hemp products have been legally available as food since 2017, but medicinal cannabis remains tightly regulated. ( ABC Tropical North: Sophie Meixner )

'We need it to be evidence-based'

President of the Australian Medical Association Bill Boyd said it was important for legislation to proceed incrementally in line with medical research.

"Cannabis … has a mystique about it, obviously," he said.

"But it is otherwise like every other medication which may be destined to be released.

"It has to be done properly.

"If we go on an ad hoc basis taking albeit the fervent desires of certain parts of the population who strongly believe that it is of great value, until we know exactly, it has to be tested and trialled, and we need [it to be] evidence-based."

He said medical advice offered by non-medical bodies like the Canna Nannas could offer false hope or be dangerous.

President of AMA Queensland Bill Boyd warned cannabis must follow the same stringent tests as all medical products. ( ABC Tropical North: Rachel Riga )

"Clearly huge strides have been taken towards possible use of this agent as a medication, but until such time as we are all satisfied that it is safe to use … then it will remain under very restricted release," he said.

"In all of these areas there are going to be people who try and wedge, they're trying to get in through the cracks and then force them open.

"If these people feel that they have a method of circumventing or wedging the current legislation then that's up to them."

False hope

Dr Boyd urged people to use caution and always consider advice from their doctor.

"I would say to anyone who might be persuaded to use this material to be very, very careful until such time as an objective — not wishful thinking — study has been done to assess it, and decide whether or not in fact it has got a therapeutic value," he said.