Leading drug researcher Dr Chris Wilkins from Massey University’s SHORE and Whariki Research Centre is calling for the adoption of a not-for-profit club model for cannabis, allowing regulated cannabis products to be sold legally. His proposal foreshadows an annual international conference on drug policy being hosted by Massey next week.

Under the proposal, Cannabis Incorporated Societies (CIS) will be permitted to legally sell approved cannabis products to registered adult members, but will also be required to pursue cannabis health objectives such as disseminating information on the health risks of cannabis, information on local treatment and counselling services, preventing the sale and use of cannabis by minors and minimising cannabis related harm and dependency.

“Increasingly around the world there’s a growing appetite for drug policy innovation,” Dr Wilkins says.

“There’s an opportunity to start having a conversation. I think that conversation is important, that we don’t make the same mistakes we’ve...