After eight years, we’ve paused our medicinal cannabis project. In short, the scheme built for medicine has drifted far from that.
When New Zealand introduced its medicinal cannabis scheme, we believed there was a genuine opportunity to develop carefully made, quality-assured medicinal products for clients.
Our focus was never on high-strength cannabis flower. It was on lower-THC, higher-CBD, balanced products made under proper GMP conditions, with customer welfare at the centre. After several years of investment, product development, licensing and regulatory work, we finally had an approved
New Zealand-grown medicinal cannabis product.
Unfortunately, the market has moved in a very different direction.
The graph on this page shows the trend clearly. CBD and balanced products have remained a small part of the market, while high-THC products now dominate. In my view, that is a serious problem. Medicinal cannabis should not simply become a regulated pathway for very high-THC products. When THC greatly exceeds CBD, especially at levels now reaching 25–30%, it becomes harder to describe that as a conventional medicinal model.
The distinction matters. THC is the cannabinoid responsible for intoxication, while CBD does not intoxicate and, at similar levels, helps moderate THC’s psychoactive effects. In my view, a product with more CBD than THC is medicinal; one with far more THC than CBD is not.
Two experts put the concern plainly. Associate Professor Marta Rychert has noted that “THC flower is not typical of medicinal cannabis use”. Dr Shaun Holt observes that “THC concentrations around 5%, balanced with CBD, are all that is needed for therapeutic effects on pain, sleep and nausea.”
I met with and raised these concerns directly with Medsafe, who while sympathetic, indicated regulatory change is unlikely.
So, for now, we’ve stepped back - proud of what we built, and ready to return if the scheme ever rediscovers its medicinal purpose.
