Hemp derived CBD in New Zealand. How do I get it?

The cannabis plant is making waves around the world right now as governments open up to its therapeutic and nutritional benefits. Driving a lot of interest in cannabis and hemp is CBD or cannabidiol, one of the main cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant.

The majority of CBD products are extracted from hemp, the name given to cannabis strains with little to no THC. As hemp doesn’t contain the psychoactive component of cannabis, THC, governments make it much easier for cultivators to grow hemp than other strains of cannabis.

While we at Hemp Wellness can sell hemp-based food and beauty products, as of writing, September 2019, CBD is a prescription medicine in New Zealand. This means you need to obtain a prescription from your doctor and find a pharmacy that either stocks CBD oil or is willing to get it in for you. Even though CBD oil is non-psychoactive and has no harmful side effects, the government still makes it difficult to obtain.

The good news is we expect New Zealand to follow the rest of the western world and relax laws around CBD and have it available in the open market for anyone to buy over the counter, as you will find through Europe and the United States. There is no set time frame on this but the way things are going we would expect this by the end of 2020.

Frustrated with the difficulties in New Zealand, many people seek to buy CBD from overseas. Any online CBD oil purchase is subject to customs control and has a strong chance of being seized. The only way to get your CBD oil released from customs is with proof of a doctor’s prescription. So make sure you go through the right channels or you run the risk of losing your very expensive CBD oil.

You can find more information about CBD oil here at https://cbd-oil.co.nz