Marijuana Media: Germany legalises cannabis! Will NZ’s cannabis industry survive our stalled regulatory regime?

First on the show we cover Cannasouth, the first cannabis company to list on the NZX under the ticker CBD, which has gone into voluntary administration after a “stoush” with secured convertible note holders derailed a capital raise.

Cannasouth needed more funds to remain solvent after spending millions of dollars building pharmaceutical-grade cultivation and manufacturing facilities but struggling to sell products in NZ’s overly regulated medicinal cannabis market. For coverage see:

• Newsroom – Cannasouth administration lays local difficulties bare [paywalled]
• RNZ – Medical cannabis company in voluntary administration after failing to raise investor funds
• Business Desk – Burning cash: Cannasouth investors opt for a vote of no confidence [paywalled]
• NBR – Cannasouth in voluntary administration, trading suspended [paywalled]

I really feel for founder Mark Lucas, who started off in the hemp industry at the same time as me, back in 1996. He had a hemp outlet in Victoria Park Market while we opened The Hempstore on lower Queen St. Mark is one of the few running cannabis companies who has really been around. Sucks for all the staff too. Of all the big dreams and visions, it leaves just Helius claiming to grow and manufacture products for patients here.

So, what happened to the promised changes to regulations, which may have avoided this? After very little apparent progress, last September RNZ reported “Medicinal cannabis industry growing as regulation overhaul given green light”. Officials told media in January, after the change of Government, it was still on track for “Q1”. But any changes to the regulations still haven’t been published. The current rumour is they’re back at the Ministries for feedback (read: various officials second-guessing what they think the new government will want).

Germany legalises cannabis

While we sit in limbo-land, Germany just casually legalised cannabis, and with very little controversy. Adults over 18 can now consume it in public and grow three cannabis plants at home. Über!

Non-profit Cannabis Clubs will be allowed from 1^st July. These could be started by anyone, have up to 500 members, who would grow a crop share it among the members. These are intended to take away the commercial element while giving consumers a safe place to obtain cannabis as well as messages about safe consumption.

I’ve long believed a model like this could have won the cannabis referendum. Some coverage here:

• AlJazeera: Germany legalises cannabis possession for personal use from April
• RNZ (BBC): Cannabis decriminalised in Germany from 1 April
• 1News: Cannabis decriminalised in Germany from today
• Yahoo/Evening Standard: Cannabis parties as Germany becomes largest EU nation to legalise the drug

Meanwhile, down South…

The Press reported last week a landscape gardener who lived behind a white picket fence was led out by police, dressed in a hoodie! For more middle class fears, see: “Gardener charged with growing cannabis and importing class A drug”

The Press also reported today “The cannabis dealer, the supercars and the $500,000 EQC claim”. Antony Coles took EQC to court but it then emerged he was a “major dealer” with millions of dollars of supercars.

Also down south, the Springfield Hotel will soon reopen under new management and they’ll be sticking to just the booze, thanks, after the previous owner converted part of the hotel to a cannabis grow op.

Mike’s Bites

Stuff reports “Mike Tyson sells cannabis sweets in shape of Evander Holyfield’s ear”, two years after they came out. Tyson credits cannabis with helping him control his demons and find peace with himself.

The cannabis-infused sweets, released by the former boxer’s company Tyson 2.0, come in pugilistic-themed flavours including black eye berry and sour apple punch.

However, Stu Zakim, a cannabis industry publicist, told the New York Post that the product should have found a better frontman than Tyson, who he called a “convicted rapist and wife-beater”.

 

Women increasingly use cannabis for endometriosis

It was recently world endometriosis awareness week and – with an estimated 120,000 New Zealand women with the condition often misdiagnosed or untreated – Dr. Waseem Alzaher, co-founder of the Cannabis Clinic, pointed to recent findings published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine which show CBD oil is a promising natural treatment for endometriosis pain relief.

“Endometriosis is one of the most common reasons why patients are prescribed medicinal cannabis. By using either CBD oil, or a combination of both CBD and THC, the inflammation and pain symptoms associated with endometriosis may be significantly improved.”

Another new study, from Australia and published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, found medical cannabis products are increasingly used to treat symptoms of endometriosis. It follows a 2021 study of Canadian women, published in the journal PLoS One, which found patients with endometriosis report effectively managing their pain and other symptoms with cannabis.

A previous study of New Zealand women, published in 2020 in the Journal of Women’s Health, found cannabis use mitigates their symptoms of endometriosis. In 2019 an Australian study, published in the journal BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, said women with endometriosis report that cannabis is most effective at self-managing their pain.

• How to access medicinal cannabis in New Zealand from your doctor or a specialist clinic

The Listener: Why medicinal cannabis is just what the doctor ordered

Russell Brown wrote about getting his own prescription for medicinal cannabis and raises the issue of Medsafe’s ban on marketing medicinal cannabis having the side effect of suppressing information the products themselves. This includes matching the selection of prescribed buds with a patient’s preferred illicit strain. Russell was after a sativaand found that surprisingly difficult. [paywalled]

Perhaps it’s the terpenes, rather than the botanical name. A new study found limonene terpene reduces THC-induced anxiety. Limonene is often higher in traditional sativas, or hybrids like my favourite Super Lemon Haze, or indeed, in lemons.

Pacific News: Guam cannabis testing in a ‘chicken and egg situation’

RNZ reports a pragmatic Guam senator wants a temporary pause on recreational cannabis testing requirements, hoping it will remove the roadblocks for a cultivation industry.

Guam legalised cannabis in 2019. Although people are freely growing, gifting and exchanging cannabis, the law requires retailers to have their products lab-tested before any can be sold. However, there are no labs in Guam ready to do the testing.

Senator Will Parkinson has introduced a bill that would put a moratorium on testing cannabis. “If I had to choose, my thing would be let the cultivators go first and then have the labs come out after because I would rather have a shortage of labs rather than have product rot on the vine.”

Parkinson describes himself as a “regular smoker” said there is no safety issue. “For years now, cannabis has been unregulated and untested and up to now there are still no cannabis-related fatalities, there was not a wave of cannabis overdoses flooding our hospital.”

It’s the sort of pragmatic approach we need here, before the rest of the industry follows Cannasouth, and to increase safe legal access for patients given more than 90 percent still obtain their cannabis illicitly.

Events:

• The first Thursday of every month is ‘First Thursday’ on Karangahape Road, and this month we had substance checking at The Hempstore thanks to NZ Drug Foundation
• Whakamana medicinal cannabis club meets every Thursday evening at The Blue Frog, North Wharf near Silo Park

·       It’s 420 Day coming up on Sat 20 April. Auckland J Day in Albert Park is now held the first Saturday in December.