"The site is zoned for rural uses, such as farming and horticulture, and was also approved by the Queensland government. "Council does not assess or regulate the types of crops grown on rural properties in development applications. Medicinal marijuana is regulated by the Federal Government Office of Drug Control." Australian Medical Association Queensland spokesman Dr Jim Finn said the AMAQ supported the evidence-based use of medicinal cannabis. "We support medicinal cannabis being prescribed if it is supported in literature," he said. "For example, with opioids, an opioid poppy can’t be grown due to restrictions, but derived products such as codeine have uses.

"We are in the early stages with cannabis, we still need to understand what uses it could have. "The only way to get research done is to have established farm facilities to create cannabis products, the farms have to be there before we can medicinal cannabis out there." The approved farm is located less than three kilometres from a school and surrounded by parks. Dr Finn said as long as the facility was secure and the cannabis was grown in a contained environment there should be no risk to the public. "Tasmania is one of the largest pharmaceutical opioid exporters in the world, this doesn't cause problems there due to the security and restrictions in place," he said.

Dr Finn said this was the first time he had heard a medicinal cannabis farm being set up in the greater Brisbane area. A Queensland-based company, Medifarm, was awarded the state's first licence to legally cultivate and produce medicinal cannabis in April. The same company asked the Queensland government for funding to build a Centre of Excellence at the University of the Sunshine Coast later that month, which it said would draw together leading medicinal cannabis manufacturers and farmers.