Police advice on hemp misguided, say Greens

The Green Party is challenging the advice given to the Minister of Health by the National Drug Intelligence Bureau on the cultivation of industrial hemp, claiming that it is inaccurate and misguided.

"We are concerned that the Minister of Health's refusal to grant licences to grow hemp is based on a report of extremely poor quality full of inaccuracies and assumptions," Green Party Co-Leader Rod Donald said.

The Ministry of Health has recommended that licences be issued for hemp trials, and the Ministry of Agriculture is not opposed to hemp being tested, but strong police opposition appears to have caused Government Ministers to reject the proposal.

"I am seeking a meeting with the new Minister of Health Wyatt Creech in order to challenge the advice his predecessor received from the police. Each point they raised is either inaccurate, unsubstantiated or simply a matter of opinion," he said.

Point by point response to the National Drug Intelligence Bureau Report (attached):

1. This is a ridiculous statement. The governments of Australia, Canada and the UK have all recently been through a similar process without compromising their policies on illicit cannabis production and use.
2. We will never know the commercial viability of industrial hemp in New Zealand until it is trialed. Many countries in Europe and Asia have been successfully growing cannabis for a very long time. The Australian government has clearly decided industrial hemp is sufficiently desirable to allow trials.
3. Scientists and researchers I have talked with have never heard of drug smokers getting any "kick" from smoking low-THC industrial hemp. The police should provide the evidence before they make such a claim. In Australia there has been virtually no interest in the crop from the drug fraternity.
4. Hemp seed does not contain THC, although a minute quantity of THC can sometimes be found on the husk of the hemp seed. Seed imported for oil extraction could be rendered infertile prior to arrival. Only licence holders would be able to import seeds for growing purposes.
5. Importers already have to pay ESR to test some hemp products.
6. Cross-fertilisation from illicit cannabis plots could only happen if industrial hemp was being grown for seed production. Normally, for fibre production the crop would be topped prior to seeding. A rudimentary understanding of genetics suggests if industrial hemp was allowed to seed, cross-pollination would lead to illicit plots losing their potency! You could not "hide" growing cannabis for illicit purposes in an industrial hemp crop as industrial hemp is spaced very tightly whereas cannabis for smoking needs plenty of space between each plant.
7. The level of THC in industrial hemp is only high in those parts of the world where hemp has been a crop for centuries. The hemp cultivars being researched in Australia, England and Canada all have very low THC levels. Obviously, only low-THC seed would be allowed into New Zealand.
8. This is a non-issue because those involved in handling the crop would be licensed.
9. New Zealand is a signatory to the 1961 United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Substances, which excludes industrial and horticultural uses. New Zealand should set a THC limit for industrial hemp. In Switzerland, the limit of THC levels in hemp seed oil is 50 micrograms of THC per gram of oil.
10. Every industrialised country growing hemp has faced this question and many have accepted cultivation for industrial uses.