Cannabis miner QBL wants to import an 'everyday use' marijuana pill

Queensland Bauxite’s cannabis arm is planning to import the Panadol of cannabis – a pill they say you’ll one day be able to get with a simple prescription.

VitaCann, the subsidiary of Queensland Bauxite’s (ASX:QBL) marijuana investment Medical Cannabis Ltd, has signed a joint venture to import a long-release cannabis pill with CannTab Therapeutics.

Queensland Bauxite was up 65 per cent on the news to 8.6c.

Queensland Bauxite shares have been getting high on cannabis news. Pic: Investing.com

CannTab makes five different pills with different levels of THC and cannabinoids (CBD) and are designed for “everyday… medical purposes”.

“No doctor in the world is writing down a prescription [that] the patient takes away and goes to a chemist and gets their product,” Medical Cannabis founder Andrew Kasavilas told Stockhead.

He says currently doctors recommend products and then health departments decided whether or not you get to use it.

But that dream of prescription access is at least five to 10 years away: clinical trials in Australia will have to happen first and Therapeutic Goods Association (TGA) approval.

Right now they will only be allowed to sell through the same processes as all other companies in Australia: the Special Access Schemes and via Authorised Prescribers.

Mr Kasavilas says they’ve started the import process and hope to have it available within three to six months.

Currently only MMJ Phytotech (ASX:MMJ) imports a pill containing cannabis, according to the Office of Drug Control, through its partnership with Swiss drug maker Satipharm. All other imported products are oils, balms or mouth sprays, where the doses are more difficult to manage.

Companies have found it difficult to sell cannabis products in Australia as the government has sought to open the sector slowly and carefully.

Queensland Bauxite told investors that it will be easier to convince doctors and regulators of this product because the pills have standard 2.5mg, 5mg, and 10mg levels of CBD in each, allowing them to prescribe a measurable dose.

The joint venture will market and sell CannTab products in Australia initially, and eventually look to manufacture the products domestically as well.