iHemp Summit - Wellington 2018
T
he 1975 Misuse of Drugs
Act demonized the
plant species Cannabis
for some 40 years,
but cannabis came of age in
Wellington in July 2018, with a
two day inaugural conference
on Cannabis for food, fibre and
medicine.
6
based Midlands Seed. The official
programme commenced on the
Thursday morning with the dynamic
MC Greg Ward and a Mihi by Wayne
Mulligan.
Mack McIntosh, (the long time Chair
of NZHIA), presented a chronological
account of the history of hemp
production in Aotearoa, at least since
1975. He was followed by Richard
Dr Mike Nichols Barge, the Chair of the iHemp Summit,
This was certainly not a meeting for
who set the current scene for fibre,
hippies interested in ‘weed’. Rather
food, and medicine. He carefully avoided the
it was a highly informative meeting with
sensitive area of recreational cannabis!
delegates from scientific research groups,
Wayne Mulligan (Fomana) presented a Maori
governmental ministerial departments,
perspective of where New Zealand science can
corporate groups, iwi groups and also several
best assist Maori /regional communities.
universities.
After morning refreshments Damien O’Connor
Due to space limitations at the venue (Mac’s
Function Centre) the number of delegates was (Ministry of Agriculture, MOA) presented
a political viewpoint on hemp. During this
limited to 250, but a further 65 interested
he advised that he and Stewart Jessamine
people logged
(Ministry of Health, MOH) were already
into the streamed presentations online.
discussing a possible transfer of responsibility
Audience members submitted questions for
for hemp regulations, from MOH to the
the Q & A sessions by smart phone. They also
Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI).
communicated feedback to questions posed
Andrew Gibbs from Deloitte was up next,
by MC Gregg Ward throughout the summit,
and he presented an interesting review of
via their phone, with the fascinating real time
the production of hemp for food, fibre and
results presented
medicine, and the
on screen, on
challenges for
stage.
a new industry.
The conference
I found this
was organised
presentation a
under the
little disturbing,
auspices of the
as it appeared
New Zealand
to examine only
Hemp Industries
the local market,
Association
which would
(NZHIA), by
eliminate from
Richard Barge
consideration
(NZHIA Deputy
a wide arrange
Chairman).
of other crops
The welcome
in New Zealand,
reception evening Some of the Summit Organising Committee (left) Richard such as apples,
was sponsored
Barge, Greg Ward, Huub Kerckhoffs, Eve Kawana-Brown and kiwifruit, wine
by Ashburton
Hamish Gow.
and onions, all of