A 75-year-old man in New Zealand was recently discovered to have been growing 250 cannabis plants by local law enforcement.

The Central District Organised Crime Unit, which worked with the Royal New Zealand Air Force, received a warrant to investigate an isolated part of the Whanganui River. According to Whanganui Chronicle, the owner of the property had previously submitted an application to grow hemp in that region.

The investigation is part of an ongoing project called “Operation Emerald” that includes law enforcement targeting illegal large-scale cultivation of drugs in New Zealand. This particular location required traversing an isolated area near the small town of Raetihi and the Whanganui River, but not a destination where vehicles can be driven. Due to the remote location, the Air Force dropped officers in on March 26 to investigate.

Detective Inspector Paul Baskett told the news outlet that the targeted illegal cultivation site previously owned a license to grow hemp, but it had expired in 2021. “The team were able to establish good cause to suspect that cannabis was being grown up there in large tunnel houses,” Baskett said. 

Police found 250 cannabis plants growing in “tunnel houses,” or greenhouses, alongside a shed containing dried cannabis as well, although reports do not specify if it was only dried cannabis flower, or an assortment of dried cannabis plant material.

Currently, the unnamed 75-year-old man has been charged with illegal cannabis cultivation and was scheduled for a court hearing in the Whanganui District Court.

Operation Emerald also acted on search warrants recently in Bay of Plenty, located on the northeast side of the country. A total of 39 search warrants were conducted over the course of five days throughout the surrounding area, with 25 people arrested with a variety of charges. “Police have laid a number of drug and firearm-related charges, and further charges and arrests are expected as enquiries progress,” said District Commander Superintendent Tim Anderson about the warrants in Bay of Plenty. “Police, assisted by the Armed Offenders Squad in some cases, seized more than 80 grams of methamphetamine, $7,610, and recovered two stolen vehicles and a stolen motorbike. While executing the warrants, several loaded firearms were confiscated.”

The operation also led to the discovery of 11,000 cannabis plants that were either “sprayed, recovered, or pulled from the ground” according to a 1News report. “The plants ranged in size from seedlings to fully grown plants 2m high. Police recovered 729 plants at one Western Bay of Plenty address, 1.6kg of harvested cannabis at a Taupo property, and more than 4kg of edibles at an Eastern Bay of Plenty address,” Anderson continued. “The Greazy Dogs gang will be feeling particularly hard hit, with more than 2,500 plants removed from paddocks surrounding their gang pad and residential properties in Tauranga.”

Anderson added that the goal of these operations is to hinder the growth of illegal substances, and the warrants conducted in Bay of Plenty will have an “immediate effect” on gang activity. “Illicit drug operations on a commercial scale strengthen organised crime groups and harm our communities,” Anderson said. “The purpose of Operation Emerald isn’t to target recreational drug users—it’s to hit gangs and criminal entities, whose parasitic offending feeds off our communities. We’re thrilled to have hit their criminal networks and it’s pleasing to have results that have interrupted their offending. The large-scale production of illicit drugs is a high-risk activity and criminals arm themselves as protection. This increases the risk to innocent people and taking so many firearms out of the hands of criminals is only a good thing.”

Anderson estimated that New Zealand gangs likely receive about $406 million per year because of illegal cannabis sales. “We don’t want them here, we don’t need them here, and we will target their offending every chance we get,” Anderson concluded. “If you choose to cultivate a drug that remains illegal and if you use it to fund your criminal lifestyle and perpetuate misery in our communities, you can expect police to hold you to account and to seize illegal firearms, drugs and ill-gotten gains.”

In 2023, Operation Emerald seized or destroyed various illegal substances totaling a value of $128 million. Statistics about last year’s searches show that police found 35,097 cannabis plants (approximately 93.452 kg or 206 pounds of plant material in weight).

New Zealand’s cannabis eradication program was initially cancelled in January 2021 because it cost too much to send out helicopters and airplanes out to investigate illegal cannabis grow sites. However, the program was revived in January 2022.

Adult-use cannabis is currently illegal in New Zealand, but medical cannabis has been permitted since 2020. Meanwhile, the country’s first mushroom cultivation license was granted in October 2023. License holder Rua Bioscience is excited to offer legal psilocybin therapy options. “It is a privilege to be involved in this ground-breaking project and we are excited to be able to support this kaupapa,” said Rua Bioscience CEO Paul Naske. “It is exciting to see Australia and other jurisdictions embracing innovative and potentially life-changing medical research with psilocybin and exciting for Rua Bioscience to now be part of such a great national collaboration.”

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Using cannabis for pain relief is nothing new. Across the U.S., most states include chronic pain as a qualifying condition for medical cannabis.

Looking broader, individuals around the globe are already embracing cannabis for these pain-relieving qualities alongside the additional benefits it may offer. While we’re still learning exactly how cannabis can work to treat symptoms and provide relief for specific conditions, many are taking matters into their own hands with promising results — and these trends could very well help to shape further research and policy.

A recent survey published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology took a closer look at symptom management pertaining to cannabis and endometriosis, finding that patients often turn to cannabis to alleviate their symptoms despite ongoing barriers to access.

Cannabis Use Among Endometriosis Patients

Endometriosis is a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside of the uterus, generally resulting in severe pelvic pain and inflammation. The tissue acts in the same way as the lining inside the uterus, thickening, breaking down and bleeding with each menstrual cycle. Endometriosis involving the ovaries can also result in cysts, causing surrounding tissue irritation and formation of scar tissue.

Endometriosis can start at the time of a person’s first menstrual period and last until menopause. We still don’t know what causes endometriosis, there is no way to prevent it and there is no cure. However, there are a number of treatments to help ease the related symptoms. Some opt for surgery to remove lesions, while many embrace hormonal intrauterine devices, birth control methods, opioid-based pain medications and more for ongoing relief.

That said, we can safely add cannabis to the list of modern-day treatments given its prevalence of use.

In the survey, Australian researchers examined the perspectives of 192 people with a history of cannabis use and endometriosis. Noting it as a “very expensive disease, with substantive out of pocket costs for pain and symptom management,” researchers reference cost and accessibility to cannabis-based medicinal products (CMBPs) as a primary focus of the survey. They also cite the lack of information surrounding ideal products, modes of administration and efficacy in current research.

Researchers gathered data through an online survey of Australian and New Zealand residents, via social media and community-based advocacy platform Cannareviews.co. Respondents included those using either illicit cannabis or legal CMBPs prescribed by a doctor to manage endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain-related symptoms. However, the published report only includes data from Australian respondents. 

Endometriosis, Cannabis Use Trends and Symptom Relief

The survey found that THC-dominant CBMPs are most commonly prescribed to Australians with endometriosis, noting multi-product use as a common trend with most people reporting the use of at least two products. For those with only one prescription (23%), it was almost always a THC-dominant product. 

Most respondents (59.4%) said they used cannabis recreationally and for endometriosis symptom management, though many exclusively used cannabis to manage symptoms (40.1%).

Patients reported improvements in common endometriosis symptoms through the use of legal CBMPs, specifically sleep (68.9%), chronic pelvic pain (44.5%), nausea (47.9%), anxiety/depression (45.4%) and menstrual pain (38.7%). 

They also reported a reduction in the use of opioids, hormonal treatments, non-steroidal inflammatory drugs, neuroleptics and illicit cannabis. 

Oils and flower were the most common product types, illicit or legal.

Examining Cost and Access to Cannabis Medicines

The results also pointed to legal, THC-dominant cannabis medications being more expensive than illicit “equivalents” and that the extra cost for legal access often led to people underdosing (76.1%) or resorting to illicit cannabis to “bridge the gap” and easen cost burdens (42.9%).

Researchers note that relying upon illicit cannabis products can lead to inadequate symptom management, using products that have not been tested for safety and quality and of course associated legal ramifications.

Nearly all (96.3%) respondents said that their cost burden would be substantially reduced if CBMPs were a Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) listed and subsidized product. 

The bulk of respondents said they would consider moving insurers if they found out their private health insurance would not reimburse the cost of cannabis medicine as well — 60.9% said maybe, depending on other factors; 20.3% said yes, so long as the premium was the same price or less; 11.7% said yes, even if the premium was higher; only 7% said no.

Researchers said that patients’ willingness to switch insurers based on this variable “speaks to the pivotal nature of cost concerns (and perceived effectiveness) relating to affordable access to cannabinoids.” Additionally, they state that the results suggest a need for a greater response from insurers in the country.

“Given the lack of well-tolerated alternatives for medical management of endometriosis, this is an equity issue that urgently needs addressing,” they add.

Limitations and Looking Ahead

Researchers note that self-reported nature of cost, diagnosis and product consumption as a limitation. They also cited the potential for their recruitment methods — through social media and Cannareviews’ patient base — to produce recall and selection bias, as participants may have either had more severe impacts to quality of life or a more positive experience with illicit or medicinal cannabis than the broader population.

Still, the data affirms that many are already finding relief and relying on cannabis treatments for endometriosis, highlighting the need for better access.

“Given major issues with symptom management and the self-reported reductions in pain and other symptoms, improving access to medicinal cannabis for this population is important and timely,” authors conclude. “Reductions in cost of both product and consultations, as well as coverage by insurance are areas which need addressing.”

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For the first time, a psilocybin mushroom license was granted in New Zealand, marking a major milestone in a Māori health science. The effort was led by Rangiwaho marae, based south of Gisborne in New Zealand. 

According to an Oct. 26 joint media release, Rua Bioscience, a biopharmaceutical business also based in Tairāwhiti, was granted the license. The company is involved as a research and development support partner, exploring psilocybin’s potential in treating conditions like addiction.

The license is the result of a collaboration of a network of rongoā Māori practitioners, ESR (Institute of Environmental Science and Research), University of Auckland, University of Waikato, Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, Mātai Medical Research Institute, an iwi health provider and other community stakeholders. 

They plan to uncover the therapeutic potential of psilocybin, which has been used in traditional medicine in Aotearoa (the Māori-language name for New Zealand) and around the world for thousands of years.

Rangiwaho marae in Tairāwhiti, Gisborne is exploring psilocybin’s potential in treating methamphetamine addiction, particularly in rewiring the brain in ways traditional ways cannot. It’s based in Te Ao Māori and unlike other clinical studies that only use a single extract or synthetically produced psilocybin, this study plans to use the whole mushroom. One of the researchers is Dr. Mitchell Head (Tainui; Ngāti Mahuta, Ngāti Naho), a neuroscientist based at Waikato University. 

“We are hugely excited about this opportunity for our whānau” said Rangiwaho trustee Jody Toroa. “These taonga are provided by the atua and our people have been using them for healing and wellness for centuries. We have been learning from tohunga about how the taonga can help shift ingrained habits and unhelpful ways of thinking, to open up new possibilities.”

“It is a privilege to be involved in this ground-breaking project and we are excited to be able to support this kaupapa,” said Paul Naske, CEO of Rua Bioscience. “It is exciting to see Australia and other jurisdictions embracing innovative and potentially life-changing medical research with psilocybin and exciting for Rua Bioscience to now be part of such a great national collaboration.

Collaborating with Rangiwaho, ESR, rongoā practitioners and university medical researchers provides us with a unique opportunity to explore cultivation techniques that can contribute to research undertaken in a culturally safe environment with the support of a range of expertise. Bringing together Mātauranga Māori, psychedelic traditions and contemporary neuroscience research is world-leading innovation based here in Tairāwhiti.”

Project regulatory advisor Manu Caddie said the decision by Manatū Hauora, the Ministry of Health, to grant the cultivation license reflects sea change in the attitudes towards psychedelic substances in the field of therapy. It will help position New Zealand taking the initiative on this evolving new branch of research.

Official Information provided by Medsafe last month to the New Zealand Drug Foundation showed that no one in New Zealand has been prescribed psilocybin to date in a clinical setting. 

Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Trials Boom in New Zealand

While Australia became the first country to legalize psilocybin (and MDMA) last June for therapeutic purposes, New Zealand has no plans to reclassify psilocybin. However, psychedelic-assisted therapy trials with exemptions are booming in New Zealand.

Three applications have been made for using psilocybin in clinical trials, all in the past 18 months.

The New Zealand Herald reported last year that a new trial is set to look into whether psilocybin could prove to be effective treatment for people with severe depression. University of Otago Christchurch professor Marie Crowe said the trial will take 10 weeks and involve eight weeks of psychotherapy and two full doses of psilocybin.

“Depression is such a pervasive thing in New Zealand, and elsewhere, and people don’t always respond to anti-depressants and some people don’t want to take them,” Crowe said at the time. “So this would provide another option.”

Researchers associated with the University of Otago, the University of Auckland and independent provider Mana Health are also currently investigating whether MDMA can help cancer patients.

Progress is being made with cannabis as well. New Zealand health regulators last year began allowing the use of domestically produced medicinal cannabis products, ending patients’ reliance on imported medical cannabis products. The Ministry of Health allowed access to local medicines beginning on Sept. 9, opening a new opportunity for New Zealand cannabis growers and manufacturers.

Under New Zealand’s medicinal cannabis legalization laws, any licensed general physician can prescribe cannabis medications to any patient to treat any health condition. But since 2017, only imported cannabis medicines have been approved for use by patients. 

A cannabis legalization initiative to legalize pot in 2020 failed, after being rejected by voters. Totals from the election held on October 17, 2020 showed that 53% of voters chose not to support the initiative, while 46% voted in favor of cannabis legalization. 

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New Zealand rugby player, Isaia Walker-Leawere, recently tested positive for THC and has been banned from playing on any team for one month. The 26-year-old lock (a second row rugby position) plays on the Hurricanes in Super Rugby; Hawke’s Bay; as well as the international rugby team, Māori All Blacks. According to the New Zealand Herald, he’s played in over 120 first-class matches over the past eight years.

Walker-Leawere tested positive following a match in Fiji on May 6, where he received two yellow cards and a red card. Due to the red card, Walker-Leawere went through the Sanzaar Super Rugby Pacific Judicial Process and the incident was reviewed by the Sanzaar Foul Play Review Committee on May 8. The verdict was that Walker-Leawere wouldn’t be suspended or punished.

However, on May 10 he spent time with friends to “wind down” from the week’s events, which is when he consumed cannabis. His suspension for testing positive went into effect starting on August 5.

“We don’t believe that cannabis is performance-enhancing,” said Drug Free Sport New Zealand Chief Executive Nick Paterson. “Getting Mr. Walker-Leawere substance of abuse support and back into sport after serving his sanction is the most practical outcome, and supports long-term athlete health and wellbeing.”

However, Paterson added that attempts are being made to remove cannabis from the list of illegal substances. “We’ve advocated to remove cannabis from the prohibited list for over 15 years and will continue to do so,” Paterson continued. “However, while cannabis remains on the prohibited list, the best approach to avoiding a positive test is to avoid using it.”

The Drug Free Spot New Zealand follows guidelines from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in terms of prohibited substances. According to WADA’s 2023 Prohibited List, cannabis is banned in all forms. “All natural and synthetic cannabinoids are prohibited except for cannabidiol (CBD). Cannabis, hashish and marijuana are prohibited. Products, including foods and drinks, containing cannabinoids, are also prohibited. All synthetic cannabinoids that mimic the effects of THC are prohibited,” WADA stated on its website.

Drug Free Sport New Zealand allows athletes to undergo a treatment program to reduce their ban duration. For Walker-Leawere, he would be banned for three months instead of one month if he decided not to participate in the program.

Like other athletes in the U.S., some rugby players have come forth about the benefits of cannabis consumption. Welsh rugby player Dominic Day and English rugby player George Kruis also spoke up in support of CBD in the past, which led to the founding of their athletic-focused brand, fourfiveCBD in 2019.

FourfiveCBD targets health and wellness for quality of life improvements. “At fourfive, our mission is simple—we want to help people lead healthier, happier lives through the power of CBD and Vitamin supplements—and we only use the highest quality plant extracts and ingredients. Our premium blends are designed by world class scientists to fit seamlessly into your daily routine, whether you’re taking CBD oil, capsules or vitamins,” the brand wrote on its website.

According to a BBC interview, Day started using CBD when recovering from knee surgery, which helped reduce inflammation and improve his sleep as well. “The first thing I noticed was my sleep was amazing. The inflammation in my knee also went down and it relieved the pain. I was sold from then on,” Day said.

Kruis also added the benefits of sleep, as well as reducing his use of opioids. “Sleep was definitely one of the things it helped with for me,” Kruis said. “But I also have low-level chronic pain and I was able to reduce the amount of painkillers I was taking.”

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Officials in New Zealand announced this week that they have completed a massive seizure of cocaine at sea, calling it a “major financial blow” to producers and traffickers of the drug. 

Authorities there said on Wednesday that the seizure was a part of “Operation Hyrdros,” with New Zealand Police working in partnership with both New Zealand Customs Service and the New Zealand Defence Force.

The announcement said that “no arrests have been made at this stage,” but that “enquiries will continue into the shipment including liaison with our international partners.”

Members of those units intercepted “3.2 tonnes of cocaine afloat” in the Pacific Ocean. NZ Customs Service Acting Comptroller Bill Perry said that the “sheer scale of this seizure is estimated to have taken more than half a billion dollars’ worth of cocaine out of circulation.”

(The news agency United Press International described the seizure as a “3.5 ton haul of cocaine with a street value of $317 million in a major anti-drugs operation carried out in the middle of the Pacific.”)

“Customs is pleased to have helped prevent such a large amount of cocaine causing harm in communities here in New Zealand, Australia and elsewhere in the wider Pacific region,” Perry said. “It is a huge illustration of what lengths organised crime will go to with their global drug trafficking operations and shows that we are not exempt from major organised criminal drug smuggling efforts in this part of the world.” 

NZ Police Commissioner Andrew Coster called it “one of the single biggest seizures of illegal drugs by authorities in this country.”

“There is no doubt this discovery lands a major financial blow right from the South American producers through to the distributors of this product,” Coster said.

Coster added, “While this disrupts the syndicate’s operations, we remain vigilant given the lengths we know these groups will go to circumvent coming to law enforcement’s attention.”

The authorities said in the announcement on Wednesday that “eighty-one bales of the product have since made the six-day journey back to New Zealand aboard the Royal New Zealand Navy vessel HMNZS Manawanui, where they will now be destroyed.”

It is believed that “given the large size of the shipment it will have likely been destined for the Australian market,” according to the announcement. 

Coster said that Operation Hyrdos “was initiated in December 2022, as part of our ongoing close working relationship with international partner agencies to identify and monitor suspicious vessels’ movements.”

“I am incredibly proud of what our National Organised Crime Group has achieved in working with other New Zealand agencies, including New Zealand Customs Service and the New Zealand Defence Force. The significance of this recovery and its impact cannot be underestimated,” Coster said.

“We know the distribution of any illicit drug causes a great amount of social harm as well as negative health and financial implications for communities, especially drug users and their families,” Coster added.

The announcement said that Coster noted that the “operation continues already successful work New Zealand authorities are achieving in working together and continues to lessen the impacts of transnational crime worldwide.”

New Zealand Defence Force Joint Forces commander Rear Admiral Jim Gilmour said that his unit “had the right people and the right capabilities to provide the support required and it was great to work alongside the New Zealand Police and the New Zealand Customs Service.”

“We were very pleased with the result and are happy to be a part of this successful operation and proud to play our part in protecting New Zealand,” Gilmour said.

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New Zealand health regulators last week began allowing the use of domestically produced medicinal cannabis products, ending patients’ reliance on imported medical marijuana products. The Ministry of Health allowed access to local medicines beginning on September 9, opening a new opportunity for New Zealand cannabis growers and manufacturers.

Under New Zealand’s medicinal cannabis legalization laws, any licensed general physician can prescribe cannabis medications to any patient to treat any health condition. But since 2017, only imported cannabis medicines have been approved for use by patients, notes Tim Aldridge, managing director of cannabis grower Puro New Zealand.

“Up until now, New Zealand patients could only be prescribed medicinal cannabis grown overseas, with the vast majority being imported from Australia and Canada,” Aldridge said in a statement.

Puro New Zealand grows organically produced cannabis at its outdoor facility on the nation’s South Island. Earlier this year, the company signed a multi-million dollar, five-year deal to provide cannabis to Helius Therapeutics, a firm that manufactures cannabinoid medications at its facility in East Auckland. Carmen Doran, chief executive of Helius, noted that a change in the law now allows New Zealand patients access to the company’s products.

“In 2018, Parliament’s legislative intent around improving access and affordability was clear,” said Doran. “The subsequent Medicinal Cannabis Scheme has also strived for both locally grown and made cannabis medicines. That national ambition to better serve long-suffering Kiwi patients is finally a reality and that’s exciting.”

“This is great news for many patients who have long sought legal access to both New Zealand-grown and made medicinal cannabis products,” Doran added.

Medications Approved for Local Market

On Tuesday, Helius was notified by the Ministry of Health that two of its medications had passed quality standards tests, a requirement that must be met before cannabis products can enter the local market under regulations adopted in 2019. New Zealand already has 35 cannabis companies across the country, with Helius Therapeutics being the largest in the nation.

Helius was New Zealand’s first medicinal cannabis business to achieve a GMP Licence for Manufacturing Medicines in July 2021, bringing the first products to market three months later. The new products will first be launched in New Zealand before being rolled out internationally, with Europe and South America already identified as priority foreign markets for the company.

“Gaining approval of medicinal cannabis products that are truly New Zealand-grown and made is a significant milestone for our industry,” Doran said. “Local patients and their advocates have fought long and hard for truly Kiwi products which are both high quality and cost-effective.”

Aldridge said that his company has spent four years bringing its operations up to government standards.

“It hasn’t always been plain sailing,” Aldridge said. “Navigating this new industry, coming to grips with the regulatory regime, and growing a new crop at scale has been a massive undertaking.”

Although the work to develop a local cannabis production infrastructure has not been easy, he says that patients will soon reap the rewards. Locally produced cannabis medications are expected to cost patients half as much as imported medicines.

Doran of Helius said that a local source of CBD and other cannabis products will help ensure that patients in New Zealand have access to their medicines, noting that global logistical challenges over the past two years have affected imports of cannabis products from producers abroad.

“We have seen significant delays and disruptions in the availability of imported products as COVID continues to impact supply chains,” said Doran. “It is disconcerting for patients and prescribers when products that are making a difference in people’s lives are not available. Fully New Zealand-grown and made products will help alleviate such issues.”

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New Zealand’s recently revived cannabis eradication has gotten out of control, residents say. A couple growing three weed plants last February, for instance, were having dinner together when a helicopter flew overhead, spraying chemicals onto their three weed plants that they used for medical reasons.

The program isn’t settling well in the modern world—not at a time when nearly 70% of New Zealanders support legalization or decriminalization. Both leaders and residents are fed up with the waste of resources as the country races toward cannabis reform.

Legalization backer and Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick said spraying cannabis plants from helicopters isn’t the way to solve this. Last February, the New Zealand Police National Headquarters made the decision to revive its cannabis eradication program, which was canceled in January 2021.

“But obviously, we have an incredibly ineffective law when this amount of money is being continually spent on an annual basis, and making no effect on the supply on the streets,” Swarbrick told Stuff.co.nz yesterday.

Instead, Swarbrick suggested focusing on a real problem the country is grappling with—such as meth. On June 9, the New Zealand customs issued a news release that they had uncovered “435 grams of methamphetamine, approximately $455,000 in cash, and clan lab-related items.” 

New Zealand Drug Foundation executive director, Sarah Helm, agreed that the police policies don’t align with what is happening across the country. “Nearly half of the country voted for full legalization of cannabis in the 2020 referendum,” Helm said. “Polling commissioned last year by The Helen Clark Foundation found 69 per cent of New Zealand respondents supported either full legalisation or decriminalisation of cannabis.”

According to uncovered documents provided to Waikato Times under the Official Information Act of New Zealand, the country spent $2,653,878 on aerial spraying cannabis nationally over the past five years. Locals are fed up that over $2.6 million was spent on destroying what the majority of the country supports.

Over 48% of New Zealander voters said they support legalizing cannabis in a referendum held last year. A poll conducted by market research firm UMR for the Helen Clark Foundation found an additional 20%, give or take, voted no but said they think cannabis should be decriminalized, bringing the total to 69%.

What the F*** are Cops Spraying on Weed?

So what exactly are cops spraying on weed? A journalist from Te Ao Māori News also wanted to know in 2018.

Officers were asked what substances they were using and one officer told Te Ao Māori News “nothing, just dye and water.” But local resident Whetu Paitai caught cops in the act, pouring a mysterious blue liquid onto the beach, and posted a video on Facebook. It turns out it’s the same herbicide they’re using to kill weed plants.

“I took a photo of the container and Googled them to find they were a weed killer called Bio-Safe from AGPRO,” Paitai said. “They have a hazchem code of 2XE which means any waste material is to be contained and removed to be correctly disposed of, as opposed to material that you can just dilute down,” 

According to AGPRO Bio-Safe’s Safety Data Sheet (SDS), it can harm aquatic life with “long lasting effects,” and it is classified a poison despite being produced using natural ingredients.

A police spokesperson claimed the spray used only affects plants and has no major impact on the soil. “A blue marker dye, which is non-toxic and environmentally safe, is used to alert growers to the fact that a plant has been sprayed,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

We can learn from the past when it comes to herbicides. When U.S.-funded cannabis eradication programs in Mexico (and other countries) in the 1970s used the dangerous herbicide paraquat, the weed made its way back into the United States where it ended up harming Americans. 

In March 1978, 21% of marijuana samples surveyed from the southwestern United States were found to be contaminated with paraquat. A recent study on paraquat poisoning in 2020 shows that “the in-hospital mortality rate was 72.7%” of people surveyed, with “acute kidney injury” being the major reason. It is also believed to cause Parkinson’s.

There are dangerous effects of smoking pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides (in legal operations, especially myclobutanil). On top of that, herbicides can harm foliage, shoots, flowers, and fruits—and the spray gets everywhere. Lab-tested legal weed is typically tested for contaminants like those. There must be better ways of mitigating illegal cannabis crops without spraying chemicals on them.

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An unknown protester sowed cannabis seeds throughout the rose gardens of New Zealand’s Parliament in Wellington, most likely as an act of defiance. The guerilla grower may have splintered off a violent anti-vaxxer occupation that took place weeks earlier.

New Zealand Herald reports that half a dozen of the weed plants were promptly destroyed by Parliament grounds staff as they continue to sift through the rubble of the occupation.

According to New Zealand’s 1 News, an unnamed protester returned to Parliament grounds on Thursday claiming the seeds had been sown during the chaos, alongside a range of other plants that are always there, such as coriander, brassica and marigolds.

Many of the cannabis seeds had been scattered throughout Parliament rose gardens, the protester told 1 News in anonymity, and “many more will likely germinate for years to come.” It is not immediately clear if the protester was involved in or liable for any of the violence that took place weeks prior. 

With a few weeks’ head start, nature takes over and it can spread like a weed. A Parliament groundskeeper agreed that more seeds will inevitably sprout. “There were a few cannabis seedlings,” the groundskeeper said. “A lot of seeds had been scattered around, amongst other things left from the protesters.”

Parliament grounds Speaker Trevor Mallard told 1 News, “I’ve asked for the weed to be weeded.”

This comes after a 23-day occupation of New Zealand’s Parliament grounds and surrounding streets by protesters against the country’s vaccine mandate—eerily similar to the insurrection at the United States Capitol building in Washington, D.C. The copycat insurrectionists torched areas, threw flammable objects, and in some cases, tried to ram into law enforcement with cars.

The occupation began as a “convoy” that kicked off in Wellington on February 8, and was very similar to the Canadian convoy that took place in Ottawa in Canada. The convoy first camped in front of the Parliament building before things went South and they began to blockade most streets.

According to John Pratt from Victoria University of Wellington, the police did nothing to prevent the occupation from taking place, nor did they enforce a complaint from nearby Victoria University against the protestors. So by the stretches of imagination, the weed scattered throughout Parliament grounds could have been prevented as well if they had chosen to do so. Protesters attempted to burn the Law School building at the university.

Opposition National Party leader Christopher Luxon repeatedly extends sympathy for the protesters. Amid the vaccine mandate protesters, other issues are also at play.

Is it Connected to Random Roadside Drug Testing?

Random roadside drug testing will kick off in New Zealand in 2023 as part of an effort to deter drug-impaired driving, after the Land Transport (Drug Driving) Amendment legislation on March 29. The Māori Party is the only party to have voted against the bill.

“In July 2020 the Government introduced legislation that would introduce a compulsory random roadside drug testing scheme in New Zealand,” the Ministry of Transport wrote in an announcement. “Under the proposed drug driving regime, oral fluid tests will detect the most prevalent impairing illicit and prescription drugs at the roadside. The proposed change allows police to test drivers for the presence of drugs anywhere, any time, just as they can for alcohol.”

There are blood limits for 25 different street drugs, including THC. The problem with that is the fact that THC lingers in the bloodstream for much longer than most street drugs.

Drivers who test positive for drugs will be fined and stopped from driving for a minimum of 12 hours. On a positive note, drivers will not be criminally charged if they are simply high and not in possession of controlled substances.

A flurry of medical organizations in New Zealand slammed the roadside drug testing plan. The framework for oral fluid and blood tests is “not supported by reliable scientific evidence”, the Royal NZ College of General Practitioners said. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists said “the presence of drugs … does not directly relate to impairment.” The NZ Medical Association also said that the science is “not quite sufficiently adequate.”

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New Zealand Police National Headquarters recently brought back its cannabis eradication program, which was cancelled in January 2021. According to Stuff.co.nz, the program was costing the department more than $700,000 annually to send out helicopters and airplanes, and the program has been running for approximately 20 years. However, the department recently set aside $635,000 to fund this effort once again, which began in January 2022 and will be conducted through March. The cannabis eradication program utilizes flight vehicles to scan for large-scale illegal grow operations.

A briefing was originally published by the police department in December 2021 detailing this decision, but was only recently released to Stuff.co.nz through the Official Information Act of New Zealand. Until now, all information was withheld until the police minister had approved it. In the briefing, it states that although the program had been stopped in all 12 districts last year, the funding was still available.

With the revival of the program, now called Operation Emerald, six out of the 12 districts have opted in. “Running a nationally coordinated operation provides efficiencies in terms of negotiating a fixed-wing plane and helicopter contracts, deploying staff, provision of training for staff, and administration of the budget,” the briefing states.

However, there has been one report of an incident that involved three cannabis plants, rather than a large cultivation operation. In early February, a police helicopter flew over one couple’s property to remove three cannabis plants. “It got closer and closer and then just zoomed in on this little hill about 80 metres from our house and sprayed three small cannabis plants that were in pots up on the hills,” the individual said. “We could see the pilot, he could see us, we waved to them, and he was just sitting there above the hills spraying the plants and then just buggered off.” The individual noted that he had recently received an operation to remove cancer, and invested in a $150 cannabis oil bottle to treat the pain, instead of the tramadol and codeine he was prescribed. (His wife also suffers from an autoimmune disease, and medical cannabis helps her sleep.) As a result, he and his partner believed it would be easier and more cost effective to grow their own cannabis plants for medical use.

“The spraying of our plants seems like overkill, we would’ve been happy if someone had knocked on our door and said ‘hey we’ve had a complaint’ or something … we would’ve destroyed them if they asked us to,” he continued. “We’re just a mother and father … good community jobs, we work in the community, we help the community with sports, we’re both in community groups and are working for non-profit organizations. We don’t understand why we got targeted in a distressing manner.”

Chlöe Swarbrick, a Green Party MP and previous advocate of cannabis legalization, criticized how the plant eradication was handled. “This situation underlines yet again how these police chopper operations are not only a waste of time and money but literally cutting off some people’s medicinal cannabis supplies,” she said. “New Zealanders going about their business harming nobody have had a police chopper drop into their family dinner simply because parliament continues to prefer and enable people to get legally fully blackout drunk with all the social harms that come with that instead of moderately using an evidentially less-harmful substance that 80 percent of us will already have used by the time that we’re out of our teens.”

The focus of Operation Emerald is to target large-scale grow operations in New Zealand, but a spokesperson confirmed that it is common for smaller plants and grows to be targeted in this manner. “However, as this work is often conducted in remote or rural areas, and from the air, smaller cannabis plots can naturally be sprayed during the discovery phase of flying operations,” the spokesperson said.

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