Waitangi Day in London is dressed up for success
A Samoan policeman missed the birth of his daughter to complete groundbreaking research into cannabis here in New Zealand. As he finally prepares to jet home, Imogen Neale discovers how his work could both lay the bedrock for the plant’s legalisation and
Aquietly spoken police officer in trademark black boots and blue-on-blue is hunched over a table examining a thick fist of cannabis. Father of three Kent Onesemo swapped his life as a forensics officer in Samoa to take up a scholarship in New Zealand, and for the past two years his life has centred around a laboratory in the Auckland suburb of Sandringham where he’s undertaken a groundbreaking study on one of today’s key social issues.
His Master’s thesis centres around two factors – the strength of different strains of cannabis, and how to tell where variants has been grown. The findings are being considered a vital baseline for future research and exactly the sort of information that New Zealand policy-makers need ahead of the upcoming referendum to decriminalise cannabis.
The long hours working with the drug chemistry team from the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) have meant Onesemo missed the birth of his daughter in Samoa, and has barely seen extended family and friends in his adopted hometown. But for Onesemo, the chance to be at the forefront of scientific advancement into a drug which is shaping as one of the key political discussions of 2019 was too good a chance to turn down.
Akey part of his research hinged on comparing cannabis varieties from the Pacific Islands with samples collected by New Zealand police. This, he hoped, would help him pinpoint the origins of different strains of cannabis and if they can be traced back to specific location by using what are called ‘‘elemental profiles’’.
So in July last year, Onesemo flew home to the Samoan island of Upolu and spent several weeks convincing the head of narcotics, and then the commissioner of police, to source the samples and sign the paperwork.
After some back-and-forth sorting out licenses, Onesemo got his wish.
‘‘That was a big win for my thesis – and also for Samoa. It took a while, but I got there.’’
Onesemo speaks so demurely, that at times it’s hard to hear what he is saying. But a full-throated laugh erupts easily when asked if, during his successful effort to import cannabis into New Zealand from Samoa, he brought the samples in his carry-on luggage.
Being able to have samples from both countries allowed Onesemo to look into high potency