The Psychoactive Substances Import Bill was passed by the Federal Government on Monday after accepting the amendment that the Happy Herb Company lobbied for, which is to exclude all plant material and plant extracts from the ban.
This is a big win for herbalists, ethnobotanical collectors and plant enthusiasts who otherwise would have been prohibited from importing a range of awesome herbs such as Kanna, Guayusa, Sinicuichi, Indian Warrior, Blue Lily and many more. It’s the third time in 4 years HHC has managed to have an impact on state and federal legislation to protect plants and the people that use them.
This time around, we made a lengthy submission and presented a witness to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee, making the basic point that, “of the estimated 4 million species of plants on Earth, there exists countless non-addictive herbs that are considered beneficial to human health.”
“Of these, vast numbers exhibit mild psychoactivity along with negligible or non-existent adverse health effects. However a great deal of these substances have not yet been listed by existing Therapeutic Goods Administration or Food Standards ANZ Act regulations; thus they would be illegal to import under the new law. Undertaking the studies necessary to add to the list of TGA regulated botanicals would be prohibitively expensive for virtually anyone outside of large pharmaceutical corporations.”
And the politicians agreed!
WOO HOO!!!
Love,
Ray
Nextwave
