February 27, 2017
Medical cannabis could create Northland jobs
Te Taitokerau MP Kelvin Davis says Northland is ideally situated as the base for a medical marijuana industry.
A poll of his electorate over the summer identified housing, jobs and a methamphetamine crisis as the issues of most concern to constituents.
He says there aren’t enough jobs in traditional sectors like forestry and fishing, and out of the box thinking is needed to find alternative industries and crops.
That’s where Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne’s moves to open the door for cannabis-based treatments comes in.
"We know we can grow marijuana in Northland. Why should we import this medicinal marijuana from overseas. We need to start having conversations round these things and seeing it they are viable. because instead of people costing us money by locking them up for growing cannabis, we could be employing them to grow it legally," Mr Davis says.
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