by Amy Wilding-Fox
In 2017, New Zealand legalized cannabis for medicinal use. Since then, roughly thirty-five medicinal cannabis companies have sprung up. There was a catch, though. While designating the use of marijuana legal for medicinal purposes, growing and manufacturing on the island remained illegal.
So what were the people to do who needed their prescriptions filled? The legal cannabis companies were forced to import cannabis products from other countries, primarily from Australia and Canada. While feeling fortunate to have safe access to their medicine, importing cannabis came at a great cost, but New Zealanders were willing to pay.
In September of 2022, New Zealand finally corrected this flaw. The Ministry of Health approved locally grown and manufactured cannabis products for consumption as medicine.
Not only will this move drastically lower costs for the patients, expecting costs to be cut by 50 percent, but it is also creating a whole new industry for New Zealanders. This creates a new crop for farming and the need for places to process the material, thus helping to stimulate the economy even more.
New Zealanders are not wasting their chance at hopping aboard “the cannabus” and growing their own meds. As seen at the recent MJBizCon in Las Vegas, they are eager to make their mark. From fertilizers and nutrients to grow lights and more, they could easily be a rising star in cannabis after all.
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