Australia has issued its first licence to grow medical marijuana to Cann Group.

The permit issued by the Office of Drug Control (ODC) allows Cann to legally cultivate medicinal cannabis and conduct research on the use of cannabis for medicine, the privately-held company said in an e-mailed statement.

The company has also submitted an application to the ODC for a cultivation licence and said it was confident of securing it.

The licence comes a year after the Australian government passed new national laws paving the way for the use of medicinal cannabis by people with painful and chronic illness. Amendments to the Narcotic Drugs Act permitted both legally-grown cannabis for the manufacture of medicinal cannabis products in Australia.

Recreational cannabis cultivation and use remains illegal with state-based criminal laws still in place. [Read more at Business Insider]