Whakamana Cannabis Museum in New Zealand has reopened at an iconic venue in the city of Auckland.
The Whakamana Cannabis Museum was originally founded back in 2013 in Dunedin, New Zealand, with the aim of becoming a center for cannabis education, information, and law reform activism. But COVID hit and the museum went into storage.
Four years on, the museum has been officially reopened to the public after local Member of Parliament Chloe Swarbrick cut a ceremonial ribbon at the facility last Friday. The new location is Hopetoun Alpha building, built in 1875, which has been transformed with the assistance of local investors into ‘Green House’; promoted to be the “new centre of New Zealand’s rapidly growing medicinal cannabis industry.”
As well as the Whakamana Cannabis Museum, Green House incorporates a legal medicinal cannabis dispensary, a prescription service and a social club. Looking ahead, the facility will include food and beverage options.
Claimed to be Aotearoa’s (New Zealand’s) first cannabis focused and consumption- friendly events venue, the Museum says it’s also the first of its kind across Australasia.
New Zealand’s Medicinal Cannabis Scheme came into effect on 1 April 2020 with the commencement of the Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Regulations 2019. Kiwis must consult a doctor to acquire any medicinal cannabis product under the Scheme and personal imports of such products are prohibited under law.
The country has strict regulations on products, which for the most part must meet a stringent minimum quality standard. An exception is imported non-verified CBD (cannabidiol) products; which can still be prescribed if a doctor agrees to import a product directly, or a pharmacy imports it directly on the doctor’s behalf.
In 2023, the New Zealand Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority (Medsafe), reclassified cannabidiol from a prescription-only medicine to a restricted (pharmacist-only) medicine. Australia made a similar change in December 2020, but “Schedule 3” cannabidiol products are yet to be available from Australian pharmacies as they must be first approved, which is a lengthy, complex process.
A more cannabis-friendly regulatory environment in New Zealand has allowed a number of companies to establish local cultivation and manufacturing facilities to service the local market and overseas, including Australia.
