People will be able to register to use marijuana for medical conditions in Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales (NSW), starting next year. The legislation is due to be released within weeks and has already won the support of the Federal Government.

The scheme will be expanded to include both a clinical trial and a plan to offer several categories of seriously ill people immediate use of cannabis – most likely in the form of a pill or nasal spray. To register, patients would have to supply a doctor's certificate proving that conventional treatments for their condition have been unsatisfactory.

The NSW Government plans to create an Office of Medical Cannabis in the NSW Department of Health and is looking at options to try to avoid growing a marijuana crop themselves.