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Puro director Sank Macfarlane said the company’s licence to cultivate medicinal cannabis was another step towards becoming an international exporter.
Marlborough is on track to produce New Zealand’s largest crop of medicinal cannabis.
Medicinal cannabis company Puro has received a licence from the Ministry of Health, allowing it to commercially cultivate cannabis for medical use at its Kēkērengu site.
The company hopes to cultivate 90,000 plants.
Puro director Sank Macfarlane said the licence would allow the company to sell medical cannabis to pharmaceutical buyers, and facilitate New Zealand’s first ever bulk export of medical cannabis.
“This is the next step in our journey to become a worldwide supplier of premium medical cannabis,” he said.
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A report from Agribusiness Group, commissioned by Puro, showed the company could create up to 375 jobs in two years.
“Puro has the potential to make an enormous difference to the Marlborough economy, delivering jobs in Kaikōura and Blenheim,” Macfarlane said.
“We have receieved strong support from iwi, MPs, mayors and business leaders.”
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The Puro team at the Waihopai Valley site in July.
The Marlborough medicinal cannabis company secured two sites last year, and raised millions through a crowdfunding campaign, with a view to producing medical cannabis when the law allowed.
The Kēkērengu site, located across State Highway 1 from The Store, is one of two sites, the other being nine hectares in the Waihopai Valley.
The commercial cultivation of cannabis for medical use was enabled under the Medical Cannabis Scheme, which came into effect on April 1 this year.
The legalisation of the commercial cultivation of medical cannabis is separate from the recreational cannabis referendum, set to take place at this year’s general election.
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Puro were still waiting on a licence for their second site, nine hectares in the Waihopai Valley.
Puro’s buyers were pharmaceutical companies and all cannabis was produced for medical purposes. Additionally, 95 per cent of the product was low in tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – the phsychoactive component that gets people high – and so had no recreational value.
Through the cultivation of 90,000 plants at Kēkērengu, the company was also adopting regenerative cultivation methods to improve the soil and plant health.
They were also waiting on a commercial cultivation application for their research facility in the Waihopai Valley.
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