Katter MP wants northern cannabis industry

A Queensland MP wants part of his far north electorate to become the state's cannabis capital.

Katter's Australia Party MP Shane Knuth thinks the fertile soil and annual rainfalls of the Atherton Tablelands, near Cairns, would be perfect for growing medicinal marijuana.

"I have been approached by farmers in my electorate who ... would embrace the opportunity to work with the government as growers of this new emerging medical crop," he said in a statement on Thursday.