Presentation
About Botanapharm
Botanapharm Pty Limited (ACN 629 565 902) is a private Australian company looking to become a global leader in the emerging global cannabis market. The company is currently pursuing opportunities to grow cannabis in Lesotho, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Malta. All four countries have recently legalised the farming of cannabis for medicinal use.
About Cannabis
Cannabis is a genus of plant comprising several species. An annual crop, it grows in the warmer months, usually starting from mid Spring with harvest in late Autumn. Cannabis has a long history of medical use.
The Genus Cannabis
Cannabis sp. are annual crops that grow in the warmer months, usually starting from mid Spring with harvest in Late Autumn. Cannabis sp. have a long history of human use, especially but not limited to the treatment of numerous medical conditions – scientific evidence of Cannabis’ effectiveness in treating a number of serious medical conditions is now becoming widely available.
There are three recognized species of Cannabis:
- Cannabis sativa
- Cannabis indica
- Cannabis ruderalis
Years of hybridization have meant that modern varieties have combined genetics of usually two or more species.
Variety Selection
After years of selective breeding, commercial Cannabis are hybrids of Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica and Botanapharm will grow commercialised hybrids of these species to ensure consistent quality. Hybrids of these species are photo sensitive which means that they will change from vegetative growth to flower production when the daylight length gets shorter after summer resulting in a harvest timing mid to late Autumn. Botanapharm will produce different varieties with varying percentages and ratios of THC and CBD to tailor products to certain medical conditions.
Botanapharm will also focus some production on high CBD strains which contain only trace amounts of THC – CBD oil is legal in Canada, America, the EU and other countries and is a prescription medicine in many more.
Medicinal Cannabis
The medicinal phytochemicals in Cannabis are referred to Cannabinoids. There are over 100 Cannabinoids identified so far. Cannabinoids are concentrated in the female flower of the plant (plants can be either male or female) and this is the material that will be harvested for medical use.
The Cannabinoids associated with the medicinal and generally in the highest quantities in the plant are THC and CBD – some medical uses these have been used for include:
- The treatment of certain types of epilepsy
- Glaucoma
- Autoimmune disease
- To relieve the side effects of cancer patients using chemotherapy
- Pain management – especially in complex pain