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Summary
- The cannabis referendum to legalise recreational cannabis flopped as 50.7% of Kiwis said no, but 48.4% supported the bill.
- Greenlab, an NZ-based biotechnology entity, is aiming to debut next year and its director was glad that the referendum did not pass as there was not enough research on cannabis or reliable findings from clinical tests.
- While some companies were happy with the voting result, others were disappointed by the referendum result.
New Zealand has voted no to legalising cannabis in a close race, where 50.7% voted against the Cannabis Legalisation and Control bill, while 48.4% voted in support of it.
A referendum on Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill that lays out a path for the government to regulate weed was conducted in the previous month.
After the loss of losing the preliminary votes by a thin margin, special votes were given, which appeared to lean towards the left.
A medicinal cannabis company is comforted that the referendum ended up in smoke stating that more research into the drug is required. However, other companies are dissatisfied with the result but noted that the result would not disturb their business much.
Doctors can already prescribe medicinal cannabis, but New Zealand businesses are still designing drugs for sale. On November 10, the first MedCan summit took place drawing dozens of industry members to Aotea centre of Auckland.
Greenlab to debut in 2021
Greenlab, a medical cannabis corporation, plans to make its commercial debut next year.
Domiciled in New Zealand, Greenlab is a biotech entity founded on a vision to be an international player in cannabinoid-based medicine in the biopharmaceutical space.
The key objective of Greenlab is to quickly control research, produce intellectual property and supply prescription drugs of GMP grade for the developing medicinal cannabis markets in New Zealand, Australasia, and North America.
Paramjit Randhawa Greenlab Director also attended the summit and was glad that the referendum did not pass, as he did not feel that there were adequate studies on the active compounds in the cannabis or reliable clinical trial outcome.
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Mr Randhawa did not want to hurry through and stated that along with cultivating the plant in a fully regulated environment, research and production into medicinal cannabis was expensive, meaning the product would also be costly, initially.
Mark Lucas Chief Executive of Cannasouth stated that a yes vote would have affected the industry to some extent, but the certainty of the environment in which the company is operating is crucial. He also added that advance inventions of different cannabinoids aiming towards particular conditions would be seen in future.
However, Graeme Muller NZTech Chief Executive stated that the voting result would not halt the production of medicinal products in NZ, but the dishonour attached to using the product could affect its use and access.
