Bright outlook for cultivation

Marlborough’s ‘‘melting pot’’ of natural resources, local expertise and older demographic gives it global advantages as a medicinal cannabis growing area, a researcher says.

Medicinal cannabis company Puro plans to start commercial cultivation at two Marlborough sites as soon as the ‘‘law allows’’, and its crowdfunding bid has had an enthusiastic response.

As of noon yesterday, more than $850,000 had been pledged to Puro, surpassing its minimum target of $500,000 on Sunday.

Puro cultivation director Tom Forrest has been advising the company for several years, and delivered a talk on cannabis cultivation at Garden Marlborough last week.

‘‘What really tickled my fancy was the increase in UV light of the Marlborough region,’’ Forrest, an agronomist, said.

‘‘There’s theories with cannabis that the UV light will cause increased resin to grow on the plant as a defense mechanism, almost like a sunscreen. As the plant grows more resin, there’s more desirable compounds in there.’’

A recipient of an Australian 2018 Winston Churchill Fellowship for cannabis agricultural research, Forrest travelled to eight countries to evaluate the global industry. Based on his findings, he said Marlborough’s sunlight would make it a ‘‘point of difference compared to everywhere else in the world.’’

The clean air, absence of pollutants and ‘‘transferable’’ expertise from the grape industry would also allow cannabis cultivation to be sustainable within Marlborough.

‘‘The more you can source input locally, the more sustainable your farm can become.

‘‘[Marlborough has] already got a good reputation around the world, and to be able to piggyback that into another similar commodity, it’d give New Zealand a lot of clout in the cannabis space.’’

The older generation was often more receptive to the benefits of medicinal cannabis, which Forrest said had been ‘‘very well received’’ in Marlborough.

‘‘The people that need cannabis the most are generally the older generation, baby boomers, that are getting to the point where they need medicines to deal with ailments they’ve gained over a lifetime of experience.’’

The Ministry of Health sought public consultation on the medicinal cannabis debate earlier this year, and planned to make regulations by mid-december. The Medicinal Cannabis Scheme was expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2020.

The country was also set for a cannabis referendum, for recreational use, held alongside the 2020 election.

Leading New Zealand cannabis prescriber and consultant Dr Graham Gulbransen also spoke at the presentation, saying one of the biggest barriers to medicinal cannabis was misinformation. He hoped law changes next month would allow for GPS to prescribe a greater range of cannabis products.

‘‘All doctors can prescribe CBD in this country for any condition,’’ he said.

‘‘The bad news is that most doctors haven’t figured it out yet and there are lots of very disappointed patients.

‘‘If you ask why your doctor doesn’t know much about this or why your pharmacist doesn’t know much, we’ve got regulations that block education of doctors and pharmacists.’’