Pot pioneers call for legal cannabis

Kiwis enjoying financial success from an international cannabis boom want to see this country follow suit. Craig Hoyle reports.

New Zealand entrepreneurs are riding high on a worldwide cannabis boom, despite the drug still being illegal in this country.

They are now using their success overseas to call for legalisation here, drawing attention to the economic and health opportunities it would present.

Among their number is Dan Crothers, a founding member of the world’s largest cannabis website.

Herb.co drew about 90 million page views in the past year and is approaching eight million fans on Facebook.

The site began almost by accident. It was the brainchild of Crothers and Lucas Young when they were flatting together in Taranaki in 2006.

‘‘One day we were getting blazed (high), and we started coming up with crazy munchie ideas,’’ said Crothers.

‘‘Some of the concoctions were so good we thought that these obviously need to be shared with the world.’’

Thus, The Stoner’s Cookbook was born. It provided a forum for selfconfessed potheads to share recipes and jokes, developing a cult following over the next few years that led to the publication of an official cookbook.

Around 2011, when various US states moved to legalise cannabis, Crothers and Young began working on the website fulltime, bringing in outside investors and a chief executive officer.

Since then the site has morphed into an information hub for all things cannabis. We’re pushing away the stigma around marijuana and the stoner culture.

Fellow Kiwi Melissa Reid joined as managing editor last year, and said the changes were part of an effort to mainstream the site’s appeal.

‘‘We’re pushing away the stigma around marijuana and the stoner culture,’’ she said.

‘‘It’s about realigning public perceptions of the standard cannabis user.’’

Reid said it was particularly frustrating watching the American cannabis boom, knowing that similar opportunities were missed in New Zealand.

‘‘It’s opened up all sorts of things, from weed delivery services, like Uber for weed, to cannabis-related massage clinics and design agencies,’’ she said.

‘‘There are endless business opportunities.’’

Colorado has experienced those benefits first-hand since becoming the first US state to legalise cannabis for recreational use.

A former Waikato dairy farmer, being John Lord, is the chief executive of Livwell – the largest marijuana dealer in the state, with 500 employees and more than 20 retail stores.

The Denver Post, in a push to take the drug seriously, appointed Ricardo Baca as the world’s first newspaper cannabis editor in 2013.

Baca said Colorado towns and cities had invested cannabis taxes in tackling community issues such as homelessness and education.

‘‘Their streets, parks and sidewalks have never been in better shape,’’ he said.

The New Zealand Government has been reluctant to move in a similar direction, despite polls showing that a majority of Kiwis are in favour of legalising the drug for recreational or medical use.

In December, the Green Party announced a new Drug Law Reform Policy calling for an overhaul that would permit growing and possessing cannabis for personal use.

Reid believes that would present significant business opportunities in regional New Zealand.

‘‘Medical cannabis could be grown in areas that have had their industries shut down, where there’s a lot of unemployment, and it would really help to regenerate communities,’’ she said.

Baca said New Zealand had nothing to be afraid of from legalising cannabis.

‘‘There’s no great danger if it’s handled responsibly. There will be hiccups, but it can be done. And we’ve proven exactly that in Colorado.’’