The Medicinal Cannabis Agency has verified a dried cannabis product by the Canterbury-based company Kalyx, making it the first medicinal cannabis flower available from New Zealand
It’s produced under strict conditions, is rigorously tested and the compounds need to be consistent.
The flower is sent to Australia to be manufactured. Auckland importer, NUBU said it brings it back in via a partnership with another company so it can be prescribed through a doctor.
NUBU chief executive Mark Dye said he is “ecstatic” and “couldn’t be happier”.
“This is a massive milestone for the teams at NUBU and Kalyx who have worked relentlessly for three years to make this happen. More importantly, it is huge news for local patients, who have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of NZ-grown dried cannabis flower options.”
Medicinal cannabis user Pearl Schomburg is “thrilled” a locally grown flower has been given official sign-off for the first time.
Schomburg told 1News: “[It's] marvellous news, it’s literally what I’ve been waiting for.'
For 30-years, Schomburg had been using opioids to control chronic pain brought on by RSI and rheumatoid arthritis but said she was not getting any improvements and felt like she was being poisoned.
“I was in a state where I was in pain 24/7. I couldn’t sleep at night, I was nauseous or vomiting all day, I was depressed.
“I went on my computer and started googling alternative anti-inflammatory items and I kept getting this cannabis balm coming over my screen.”
The pain in her hand kept getting worse, and then she remembered her friend had dropped off some cannabis butter to make cookies with.
“Nothing I had in the house would get rid of that pain, so I actually started applying this butter onto the top of my hand, and within seconds the pain started going away so that's when I knew there was something here that might be helpful at least for pain and that was the beginning of my journey.”
A so-called "green fairy" started supplying Schomburg with cannabis products on a regular basis. She uses flowers or buds in a vape.
“I love medicine, I use oils, infused oils as part of my regime to keep me well and give me a quality of life that I haven’t had in 30 years of pharmaceuticals I can tell you that.
“I'm actually having a much better quality of life now.”
In a statement, the Medicinal Cannabis Agency said Kalyx is licensed to cultivate medicinal cannabis material in New Zealand and is able to export starting material which has been verified by the Agency as meeting the minimum quality standard.
“Once cannabis material is exported from New Zealand we no longer track how, or for what, that material is used overseas. Nor do we determine the source of cannabis material used in a product manufactured overseas, when the product is verified as meeting the minimum quality standard in New Zealand.
“The Ministry is aware of the potential for products to be grown in New Zealand, processed overseas, and then subsequently made available for sale in New Zealand.”
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