AUCKLAND, Monday: Over 400,000 New Zealanders say they would definitely seek out medicinal cannabis products when they become widely available from 2020, according to a large independent survey and the first of its kind, just released.
Gearing up to meet such significant demand, the country’s largest licensed medicinal cannabis company, Helius Therapeutics, has also announced the first national, accredited training programme on medicinal cannabis for New Zealand doctors, to take place in July and led by a global expert.
The move follows Helius commissioning Horizon Research to survey 1100 adult New Zealanders on whether they plan on accessing medicinal cannabis products once they become more widely and legally available next year.
The results provide the first real insight into the potential market size of medicinal cannabis in New Zealand.
The executive director of Helius is former adman Paul Manning, who resigned as managing director from BBDO agency 99 in April last year. Before that, Manning founded Metromedia which was acquired by Ogilvy in 2007.
“This is a serious wake-up call. It’s not just the sheer size of the potential market, NZ needs to be prepared.”
PR for Helius is being handled by another well-known Auckland comms adviser, Cameron Brewer.
“On whether they would try seeking out products, a staggering 14% of respondents answered ‘definitely’ equating to 431,900 New Zealanders,” Mannering said. “Overall, 34% answered ‘definitely’, ‘most likely’, or ‘somewhat likely’ equating to 1,058,900 Kiwis.
Medicinal cannabis won strong cross-party political support last year. New Zealand’s regulators are now tasked with developing the scheme by mid-December, which will deliver the required regulations and framework for access.
Manning said: “This survey is a serious wake-up call. It’s not just the sheer size of the potential market and groundswell of demand, but it’s a timely reminder that Kiwis are increasingly seeing cannabis as a mainstream heath product. New Zealand needs to be prepared for this demand shift.”
About Helius Therapeutics
Helius is a New Zealand-owned biotechnology company focused on medicinal cannabis research and development. We are the country’s largest licensed producer and the first medicinal cannabis cultivator to be certified as New Zealand Grown through Buy NZ Made Campaign. The company is building a state-of-the-art facility in Auckland with indoor controlled growing systems, integrated extraction site, an advanced cannabinoid research laboratory and manufacturing operations. As New Zealand’s regulatory environment changes, Helius is poised to set the standard for effective and accessible medicinal cannabis products in New Zealand.
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