Welcome to the third edition of The Hemp and Cannabis News, brought to you by the Cannabis Party and World Publishing.
This month we continue to document the fast changing political landscape surrounding cannabis. We also look back at some of the most important new stories from 2016.
The Cannabis Party has barely had time to rest after the Mt Roskill by-election before launching into the Mt Albert by-election. Both campaigns resulted from former Labour leaders resigning from Parliament.
Sadly, the Ministry of Health has reneged on its own interpretation of the loophole which previously allowed medical cannabis to be imported from the US. However, despite false claims by Customs officials that the law has changed, the loophole could be still blown wide open again in the future. Innocent tourists with medical cannabis prescriptions are now being deported at the border.
The lawyer credited with highlighting the importation clause in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975, Sue Grey, continues her fearless crusade for liberty. She is now taking the Minister of Health and Minister of Customs to the High Court over their mistaken classification of Cannabidiol as a illegal drug.
Meanwhile, medical patients in New Zealand, many of them children with severe epilepsy, are suffering because they cannot afford the expensive pharmaceutical cannabis product Sativex. It is also too bureaucratic to obtain it, putting off many doctors from prescribing it.
We talk to Huhana Hickey from Medical Cannabis Awareness NZ.
Finally, we feature an extract from Jack Herer's famous book the Emperor Wears No Clothes
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Thank you for reading THC News!
Julian Crawford
Editor
The Hemp & Cannabis News EDITORIAL
February 2017 3 3