Source: stuff.co.nz
Police have apologised to a legal hemp gower after ripping out his entire crop on an East Coast farm.
Willie Kaa is part of a collective of growers working with Hikurangi Hemp to develop medical cannabis products from industrial hemp plantations.
He had planted 16 hemp plants supplied by Hikurangi Hemp as a trial, but when he came home on Wednesday, he discovered all the plants had been ripped out – and police have admitted they did it.
Willie Kaa, right, planting his hemp crop. It was ripped up by police on Tuesday.
They have since apologised to Kaa, and could end up paying him as much as $16,000 for the error.
"As part of efforts to target the people who supply drugs to communities in the Eastern district, 16 legitimate hemp plants were accidently seized by police on Tuesday, " Detective Senior Sergeant Brenton Greville said.
The trial site on Rangitukia Station, near Ruatoria, after police removed grower Willie Kaa's legal hemp plants.
"We have apologised to the owner, who has been understanding of the police error, and will be reimbursed.
"The seizure of the hemp happened in the rural Gisborne area during an ongoing operation targeting the cultivation of commercial quantities of cannabis linked to criminal activity."
The trial crop was planted on Rangitukia Station, just north of Ruatoria. It may now be too late in the season for Kaa to grow another crop.Video will play in 1 second
The Government has opened the door to a medical marijuana industry being established in New Zealand.
Hikurangi Hemp managing director Manu Caddie said it was extremely disappointing the mixup had happened just as the Government introduced new legislation that would loosen the rules on medicinal cannabis.
"It's certainly commercial, but there is no criminal activity involved. And that is the unfortunate irony, that the Government are trying to establish a legitimate commercial industry for medical cannabis and this kind of incident won't help that at all."
Hikurangi Hemp was the only New Zealand company producing medical cannabis products for the coming year, Caddie said.
Rapata Kaa, left, and Willie Kaa planting the seized hemp.
It had 5000 cannabis plants and was aiming to produce the first crop of medicinal cannabis.
The company and growers were required to go through an arduous regulatory process to ensure everything was done legally, Caddie said.
Kaa had even organised a police visit to his licensed hemp site.
Manu Caddie with one of Hikurangi Hemp's legal plants. Ruatoria could be first to grow medicinal cannabis in NZ.
"Willie put a lot of effort into this trial – he had to spend money and a lot of time preparing a suitable site, applying for the industrial hemp licence from Medicines Control at the Ministry of Health," Caddie said.
Hikurangi Hemp provided the plants as well as training to Kaa to start the trial crop.
He called the raid "surprising and disappointing in the extreme".
Police said they were conducting an ongoing operation targeting the cultivation of commercial quantities of cannabis linked to criminal activity in the Gisborne area when the mixup happened.
"The local cops know where the growing sites are. In this case, there seems to have been a communication breakdown somewhere along the line ...
"It's growing in the open, not trying to hide anything. You would have thought they'd have do some background checks.
"People's livelihoods are going to be on the line as the industry grows, and they need to get their system in order."
Hikurangi Hemp has 5000 plants, and Caddie says it is the only New Zealand company producing medical cannabis products for the coming year.
Asked about the cost of the damage, Caddie said that, when police took growers to court, they suggested each plant was worth $1000 – "so there's $16,000 for the plants".
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