Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Cannabis firm soars to new highs

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An East Coast company will be the first to import stronger cannabis under new biosecurity laws.
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Hikurangi Cannabis in Ruatoria has been granted permission to cultivate 16 new varieties of cannabis – including some of the first high-THC strains to be legally imported – for medicinal use.

The new cultivars include five varieties with high levels of THC, the main psychoactive compound found in cannabis.

Another seven are low THC varieties and four have high levels of CBD – the non-psychoactive compound used for treating epilepsy and multiple sclerosis, among other conditions.

Managing director Manu Caddie said both types of compound are useful medicinally.

“They’re proven to be very effective in treating pain and nausea.

“As we breed the particular plants that Hikurangi medicines are derived from, our plant scientists are saying diverse genetics is really important.

“There are many different types of cannabis and compounds organised in different ways can help different groups of people,” Caddie said.

The high-THC plants are also better economically. 

“If we have a 4% THC plant compared to 2% we only have to grow half as many plants, which is much more efficient for us.”

The approval required a change of policy.

Until last month the Primary Industries Ministry allowed only low-THC strains into the country. After looking into the issue with the Health Ministry MPI updated the regulations and Hikurangi lodged an application to cultivate stronger varieties.

“The Government has been supportive and quick to act,” Caddie said.

“From the moment we lodged an application to amend our licence to cover high-performing strains it took only a matter of weeks for it to get approval. It’s pleasing to see.”

After growing low-THC hemp varieties near Ruatoria, north of Gisborne, since 2016 Hikurangi won the first medicinal cannabis cultivation licence last August. 

The company employs 20 staff including a team of scientists with experience in horticultural engineering and agronomy, molecular biology, biochemistry, pharmaceuticals formulation and manufacturing.

It is a big investment but rightly so with demand for medical cannabis at an all-time high. 

The global cannabis market is estimated to reach $200 billion by 2025 and there could be significant value in being NZ-grown.

Caddie is going to Asia next week to meet companies from Thailand, India, China, Japan, Mongolia and Cambodia to discuss opportunities for trade in cannabis seeds, medicines and natural health products.

Asia is rapidly opening up to the legal cannabis industry, he said. 

“Last week we saw the government in Thailand approve medical cannabis, the Philippines, Malaysia and South Korea are all shifting quickly and others are following.”

Hikurangi has formed a partnership with researchers from Nepal and India to support cannabis growing communities as they characterise, protect and commercialise strains from their areas.

“We are very excited about the global indigenous communities network we are building with tribal groups cultivating cannabis in North and South America, Africa and now Asia.”

However, creating jobs on the east coast – a region that is around 95% Māori – is his primary focus. 

“The ultimate aim is to have a collective of growers in the region utilising whanau land and contributing to a cannabis co-op.

“If the right opportunities arise it could prove a real boon for the region.”

Last year, Hikurangi crowd-funded $2.4 million, which crashed the PledgeMe website. It gave preferential shares in its company to locals. 

Since then the company has raised several million more from various investors.

New Zealanders will get to vote on personal cannabis use in a binding referendum at the 2020 general election.

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