While the referendum on legalising the personal use of cannabis may have fallen short in the preliminary results, help
is still on the way for patients counting on the plant’s therapeutic properties, says New Zealand’s largest medicinal
cannabis company, Helius Therapeutics.
“At this time, there are still access issues surrounding medicinal cannabis, with cost being one of the greatest
barriers. So, a lot of patients were hoping the referendum would pass and provide affordable access to cannabis products
for wellness purposes,” says Paul Manning, co-founder of Helius Therapeutics.
Despite New Zealand’s Medicinal Cannabis Scheme taking effect in April, with an overall ambition to improve access for
patients, only expensive overseas products are currently available via prescription. Meanwhile, the local industry is
still in its establishment phase.
“The high cost of imported medicinal cannabis products continues to be a real challenge for patients. Fortunately, the
country’s new Medicinal Cannabis Scheme was enacted in April, giving way to the formation of a local industry. Kiwi
companies are now gearing up to produce more affordable New Zealand-made cannabis medicines by mid next year,” says Mr
Manning.
Had the referendum been successful, the parliamentary process for enacting the Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill
would have likely taken up to two years, meaning cannabis would not have been available until 2022.
“By that time, local companies will have high-quality local cannabis medicines in the market, helping to drive down
prices for patients,” he says.
Mr Manning says with Helius Therapeutics squarely focused on prescription medicines and wellness products, its business
model was never predicated on personal use cannabis being legalised. However, he suspects some smaller medicinal
cannabis businesses would’ve been counting on the referendum passing to secure their commercial viability.
“Sadly, I think we’ll now see retrenchment in some corners of the industry as a result of the referendum failing.
Regardless, the country’s nascent medicinal cannabis industry will continue to grow in importance – both in public
health and economic terms,” he says.
While Helius believed the Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill represented an economic opportunity, New Zealand’s
Medicinal Cannabis Scheme will still create up to half a billion dollars of economic benefit, including valuable export
earnings.
“It’s unfortunate New Zealand cannot take advantage of the revenue and job creation that the legalisation bill would’ve
created. Nonetheless, our medicinal cannabis industry is already having a significant impact when it comes to
employment, innovation and R advances, along with growing economic and tax contributions,” says Paul Manning.
With the referendum now behind us, the country’s next cannabis milestone is the sold-out MedCan Summit 2020 – New Zealand’s first medicinal cannabis conference. Taking place on the 9th and 10th of November at Auckland’s Aotea
Centre, Helius Therapeutics is the Foundation Sponsor.