Pubdate: Fri, 15 Sep 2000
Source: Nelson Mail, The (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2000 Independent Newspapers Limited
Address: PO Box 244, Nelson
Fax: 03 546 2802
Feedback: http://www.stuff.co.nz/inl/indexLite/1,2487,0a9,FF.html
Website: http://www.stuff.co.nz/inl/index/0,1008,0a1540,FF.html

"FURTHER BEHIND" ON HEMP

Nelson, New Zealand -- Motueka hemp advocate Peter Smale says he is 
disappointed by a decision not to allow trial crops to proceed in time for 
this planting season.

Mr Smale last month applied for a licence to grow industrial hemp under 
trial conditions. He received a letter from Medsafe, the business unit of 
the Ministry of Health, stating that trials would not proceed this planting 
season.

An inter-agency working party including the police, Customs, the New 
Zealand Hemp Industries Association and the Ministry of Agriculture and 
Forestry is discussing a legislative framework, and plans to allow trials 
to proceed.

However, the letter said it was not expected that the work would be 
completed in time for this year's planting season.

Mr Smale said that while he was disappointed by the decision, he was not 
surprised that the trials would not proceed this season.

"The Government are still reinventing the wheel when it comes to industrial 
hemp," he said.

The decision put New Zealand even further behind the rest of the world in 
industrial hemp production, he said.

Federated Farmers' representative on the working party, Bruce Hill, said 
there was an understanding within the group that the trials would be up and 
running by next year.

Police and Customs had to work through several security and legislative 
issues, but once this groundwork had been completed there was "no reason" 
why the trials could not go ahead, he said.

Motueka hemp advocate Steve Burnett, who got off a cannabis charge by using 
industrial hemp as his defence, said he had also lodged a licence 
application with the ministry, but had not received a reply.

The Nelson-Motueka area has been tipped as a potentially valuable area to 
grow hemp. In some places it could be grown alongside complementary crops 
such as wheat and barley.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens