Howard Marks’s university side hustle has turned into a much bigger enterprise, and he sits at the helm of a highly successful international drug-smuggling ring. He and his crew are planning to ship ten tonnes of cannabis into America – but what they don’t know is that they are becoming the focus of a new policing operation led by America’s Drug Enforcement Agency and the Spanish police. With the law hot on their tail, can they make it to payday without getting caught?

Their Headline reads

Veterans targeted by medicinal cannabis businesses on social media spruiking free products and subscriptions.

In short:

Veterans are being targeted by social media ads offering access to “free” medicinal cannabis, funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA).

VeteranCann supplied medicinal cannabis to a man with a record of cannabis addiction, who ended up in “borderline psychosis” and kept sending it even after he told them he was addicted.

Another patient was bombarded with texts to book an appointment, as the DVA confirms it funded $35.99 million of medicinal cannabis in 2023/2024.

The Report

At 4:16am a Brisbane navy veteran is desperately messaging the company which prescribes and sends him medicinal cannabis.

It had been a swift downward spiral for 35-year-old Bill*, after he was targeted with a Facebook advertisement by the company VeteranCann.

The ads offered free access to “natural therapies” and claimed it was “backed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA)”.

Despite his history of cannabis addiction being well-documented with the DVA, Bill was sent more than $1,700 worth of medicinal cannabis in less than a month after just one call with a VeteranCann doctor.

The 14 bottles — six containing the psychoactive ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) — were paid for by the DVA.

Struggling with his mental health, chronic pain and life with a newborn baby, some days Bill would drink entire bottles of the oil — bottles which should have lasted almost a month.

Within weeks he was in a “borderline drug-induced psychosis”, had taken sick leave from work and told his wife, who was caring for their baby, he felt like a “zombie”.

Despite informing VeteranCann he was addicted, he received another two shipments of the drugs.

“What is wrong with this system? Why should addictive medication be sent three times to a drug-addicted veteran?” he said.

Veterans big business for medicinal cannabis telehealth companies

Veterans represent a lucrative market for medicinal cannabis companies.

The DVA fully funds medicinal cannabis for veterans with specific conditions when other treatments have failed, and where there is evidence of a clinical benefit.

In the 2023-2024 financial year, it spent $35.99 million to fund medicinal cannabis for 8,455 veterans.

A DVA spokesperson confirmed 6 per cent of applications to fund medicinal cannabis products for veterans were rejected.

The ABC has spoken to veterans accusing major industry players of exploitative behaviour, including questionable marketing tactics, late night texts, offers of “free” medicinal cannabis, and ads targeting them through veteran support groups.

Army veteran Sandra* started the process to access medicinal cannabis for chronic pain through VeteranCann this year.

She said she had a 20-minute consultation with a nurse before being prescribed cannabis oil containing THC by a doctor she never spoke to.

The Royal Australian College of Psychiatrists warns products which contain high potency THC — the ingredient which gives users a “high” — should be avoided due to the risk of psychosis and weak evidence of efficacy in most conditions.

The DVA requires a written application from a veteran’s specialist before approving funding for higher doses of THC, or for multiple cannabis products.

VeteranCann invites veterans to use its “in-house advocate program” to get chronic pain or injury officially accepted by the DVA, as well as access to “partnered pain specialists” to unlock fully-funded treatment — including higher dose THC.

Sandra’s regular GP, Dr Kerry Summerscales, is a veteran herself.

She specialises in treating other veterans, and was shocked to see some of the high strength products her patients had been prescribed by online telehealth companies.

“I was really quite horrified on a few levels,” Dr Summerscales said.

VeteranCann booked appointments for both Bill and Sandra with a “pain specialist” doctor, to help get DVA funding for higher doses of THC.

When Sandra didn’t follow up, she started receiving texts from a man called Geoff from VeteranCann offering to help gain free access to medicinal cannabis including “oil, flower and gummy bears”.

“The texts were a bit weird, because they just kept coming,” Sandra, who also lives with PTSD and ADHD, said.

Dr Summerscales said she was stunned when she saw the messages.

“I saw it as downright badgering, especially when you look at the times, at 9 o’clock at night there were texts,” she said.

Eventually Sandra replied to Geoff, noting VeteranCann hadn’t consulted with her GP.

Geoff responded, “normally VeteranCann doctors don’t liaise with GPs”, before texting again to offer a follow-up call.

“Therein lies the issue,” Dr Summerscales said.

“(Veterans) do have chronic pain and some of them do have mental health issues and they are vulnerable in that way.

“If you’re not treating the patient holistically and you’re just prescribing the one medication in a five-minute consult, that’s not medicine. And that is what needs to be clamped down on.”

In a statement, VeteranCann told the ABC Geoff was a “trained and experienced veteran advocate” paid for “onboarding veterans”, but apologised for the messages which it said “should not have been sent”.

Geoff’s number was also featured in online veteran support groups, advertising VeteranCann including several run by registered charity Young Veterans

Read more including this

VeteranCann consultant terminated after misogynistic posts

VeteranCann is owned by Dispensed, a telehealth company under fire after patients with a history of psychosis were prescribed medicinal cannabis by the company. One was hospitalised and the other took his own life.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-11/veterans-targeted-medicinal-cannabis-businesses-veterancann/104563180

Reforms to current hemp licence regulations are set to be introduced, making it easier for regulated farmers to grow the crop and maximise its economic potential.

“Hemp” is a variety of cannabis with “low-THC” levels, which is currently defined as a maximum of 0.2%.

The plant is grown for strictly lawful purposes, such as for use in the construction and textiles industries, and only farmers with a licence are allowed to plant it.

The government has agreed to several reforms, developed in collaboration with experienced growers, to the licensing system which will help boost the industry.

Under the changes, licence holders will now be able to grow hemp anywhere on a licensed farm, reducing the unnecessary burden on farmers who currently have to set out the exact field where they will grow the plants within a farm. This change is expected to come into effect for the 2025 growing season.

Ahead of the 2026 growing season, two further changes to the regulations are planned. The first will see an extension of the maximum period for a licence from 3 to 6 years, subject to compliance with the licence terms.

The second change will allow those applying for a licence to defer its start date by up to one year, helping farmers to make business planning easier.

Minister for Crime and Policing, Dame Diana Johnson said:

These reforms will bring an important boost to this industry and cut down the unnecessary burdens that have been placed on businesses.

This government will always listen and engage with industry experts, and we want to make it easier for licence holders to capitalise on the economic potential of legally growing hemp.

Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs, Daniel Zeichner said:

These improvements to the licensing regime for industrial hemp are a positive step for farmers.

Recognising that industrial hemp is a field-grown agricultural crop, these reforms will simplify the license application process and provide greater flexibility within the crop rotation, enabling farmers to fully realise the economic and environmental benefits of the crop.

The government recognises cannabis is a harmful substance and expects police to take action against its misuse and supply. As a Class B substance, being caught possessing cannabis carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison, a fine or both.

Supplying the drug is also a serious criminal offence and carries a maximum sentence of up to 14 years in prison, an unlimited fine or both.