First cannabis advertising sparks complaints
A billboard campaign promoting cannabis as a medicine has sparked a fierce debate including complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
Helius Therapeutics, a licensed medicinal cannabis company, launched the billboards following last week’s legalisation of medicinal cannabis manufacture, to ‘‘rebrand’’ cannabis, it said.
Hilary Souter of the ASA said three people had laid formal complaints so far.
‘‘In broad terms, people are expressing concern whether or not it’s legal to promote medicinal cannabis – that’s obviously not an issue the ASA can deal with – and the other matter that people are raising is about children. The fact that it’s a billboard medium means it’s got an unrestricted audience.’’
One Stuff commenter said he had complained to the ASA even though he was a marijuana user, because he was worried children would get a false impression about cannabis.
‘‘Derivatives and parts of it can be used medicinally, but there’s other things that go on with smoking cannabis that aren’t ideal, like psychosis or anxiety in certain users.’’
The commenter said he had dropped out of school a year after being introduced to cannabis at the age of 14 and blamed it for setting him on a bad path. He didn’t want that for his kids, he said.
But a blogger whose son needs cannabis to control his lifethreatening seizures says she was pleased to be part of Helius’ public awareness campaign.
Katy Thomas’ son Edward, 4, has a rare form of epilepsy that is resistant to anti-epilepsy drugs.
She found during a seizure that cannabis had an immediate effect on Edward and spent a year going from doctor to doctor, trying to get a prescription for him.
She said the family had just marked one year without a night at hospital.
At the moment, she said she had to import the right type of cannabis for Edward at great cost. But she hoped a local market and government funding might bring down prices for others.
‘‘It’s not currently funded, so the price [for medicinal cannabis] is incredibly prohibitive.
‘‘The idea that there might be a local producer not only increases the number of products that are available to patients . . . [but also] will reduce the final cost to the consumer because you’re not paying shipping cost, you’re not paying for transport fees, all that malarkey, by having it produced close to home.’’
Helius executive director Paul Manning said the campaign was designed to heighten awareness of cannabis’ medicinal properties.
‘‘It will be everyday people who use medicinal cannabis, which will soon become a very mainstream product.’’
Helius has no products to sell yet because the regulations are still being drawn up, so Manning said the company’s current focus was on research and education.
‘‘Cannabis needs a rebrand. Despite over 80 per cent of Kiwis supporting widespread access to cannabis for medicinal purposes, we still have a job to do when it comes to addressing stigma.’’
As well as permitting a medicinal cannabis industry, Parliament last year gave doctors the ability to prescribe cannabidiol (CBD) products to patients without needing approval from the health minister.
Medicinal cannabis does not contain the active ingredient that gives the ‘‘high’’ of recreational cannabis.
However, the ministry still has to consult on the regulations, licensing rules and quality standards that medicinal cannabis manufacturers would have to meet. Helius expects to have products available by 2020.
Other Kiwis involved in the Helius campaign include: medicinal cannabis advocate Pearl Schomberg; Emmelene Pryce, whose child suffers from epilepsy; Neville Findlay, a founder of clothing company Zambesi; writer and breast cancer survivor Helene Ravlich; marketer Grace Boyle; Fashion Week founder Myken Stewart, who suffers from endometriosis; and Danny Battershill, who lives with severe auto-immune eczema.