Marijuana has never been taken positively in the island nation of New Zealand, as shown by the military-supported drug raids conducted every year by New Zealand law enforcement agencies over the nation’s vast hinterlands. According to the 1975 Misuse of Drugs Act, it is illegal to possess any quantity of cannabis for any reason. A lot of attempts have been made to decriminalize and legalize it medical marijuana. However, all these efforts have not been fruitful, and this has failed to stop the blanket prohibition on New Zealand weed.
Due to the rise in command of a progressive government coalition of Greens and the Labour Party, the cannabis policy is starting to become positive in New Zealand. The new governing coalition is set to take another step on a medical cannabis bill this year. State officials have currently licensed the country’s first ever medical cannabis cultivation center.
Industrial Hemp Facility to Get Medical Cannabis Renovation
There’s a little-known medical cannabis research company in the small North Island town of Ruatoria in New Zealand. Hikurangi Cannabis, which originates from the rural settlement and formerly Hikurangi Hemp, has been managing small industrial hemp grow to provide researchers with CBD. It’s currently getting an essential renovation.
Hikurangi started renovating the state-of-the-art greenhouse facility after winning a license to cultivate medical cannabis exclusively for research. The facility will comprise of high-tech grow equipment and testing labs in its 108,000 square-foot establishments. The renovation and staffing could add a maximum of 120 jobs.
According to Interim chief executive Manu Caddie, the people are excited to receive the license and start working on the facility which will become an entirely new industry in New Zealand. Having the ability to start a business and community objective of creating a pharmaceuticals industry at Ruatoria is a noteworthy milestone.
Caddie plans on having Ruatoria-grown, Hikurangi medical cannabis products on New Zealand dispensary shelves by 2019. However, that won’t be possible if the government doesn’t fulfill its promise to legalize medical cannabis.
Local Families meet Global Investors to Support New Zealand’s Marijuana Industry
People are expecting the Green/Labour coalition to meet Global Investors to Support New Zealand’s Marijuana Industry. In 2006, Greens supported the idea of legalizing medical marijuana, and in 2016, they made drug policy reform a keystone of their platform. Moreover, the government is backed by voters, and particularly the rural residents of Ruatoria.
According to Caddie, medical cannabis can uplift the rural community’s weak economy. Profits from the industry could increase household incomes in the region.
This has made the Hikurangi enterprise to secure a remarkable amount of investment money from residents. Sources say that Hikurangi Cannabis crowdfunded US$1.8 million from 1,500 local households. This kind of help can positively change the perspective on cannabis policy in New Zealand.
In contrast to high production countries such as Canada, however, the real economic possibility for New Zealand doesn’t lie in production. However, the presence of a high-tech research facility in New Zealand could be necessary when it concerns branding and intellectual property. Due to the fall in margins on cultivation businesses, these two areas could still thrive as a late-comer to the industry.
