WELLINGTON, May 31 -- As more governments around the world move to legalize cannabis -- either for medical or recreational purposes -- an image of a 21st-century "cannabusiness" is emerging: lush green plants growing in sleek, temperature-controlled rooms with workers in lab coats funded by venture capital. And one small New Zealand medicinal cannabis business is looking to secure its slice of the pie, all while empowering a marginalized community and allowing it to create wealth from within. Based in the regional community of Ruatoria on the East Coast of New Zealand's North Island, Hikurangi Cannabis is working to ensure Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, are included in -- and benefit from -- the country's growing cannabis industry. "We've got a lot of people who grow illicit cannabis for their incomes. They don't grow it to be millionaires or to put Ferraris in the garage -- they grow it to put food on the table and shoes on their kids' feet," explains co-founder Panapa Ehau as he drives along the narrow and winding road to Ruatoria, two hours north of the company's humble offices in the coastal city of Gisborne. "If we're not at the leading edge of this industry, other people will be, and our people, whose incomes come from the illicit market, their incomes will decrease, and therefore their wellbeing will decrease." In December, the New Zealand government enacted a law to make medicinal cannabis more widely available and began the process of creating a regulatory body to allow homegrown products to be manufactured and sold. In 2020, the country will hold a referendum on whether recreational cannabis should be legalized, potentially opening New Zealand up to an industry that is estimated to be worth tens of billions of dollars worldwide. Ruatoria -- with a resident population of just 750 people -- is one of the most disadvantaged communities in New Zealand and would benefit greatly from involving itself in the growth industry. Unemployment in the town stands at around 15 percent -- three times the national average -- and the median annual income is just NZ$17,100 (US$12,000) compared to NZ$52,000 nationally. Almost 94 percent of the population identify as Maori, one of the highest proportions anywhere in the country. Ehau says the "intergenerational trauma from colonization" has seen generations of Maori grow up relying on social welfare benefits and missing out on the socio-economic advances experienced by others in New Zealand. "There's a whole section of our community, what they see is to go to the income office and get a benefit, and that becomes normal. And there hasn't been a whole lot of innovation in our region," Ehau said. The 39-year-old hopes that by bringing a new industry to the area, people will be able to return to their ancestral homelands to work and reconnect with their cultural roots. And the community, it appears, is hopeful for change too. In 2018, Hikurangi Cannabis allowed locals to become stakeholders with a minimum investment of NZ$50 for 50 shares. "We raised NZ$1.5 million from arguably the lowest socio-economic area of the country," Ehau said. To reach a target of NZ$2 million, the company raised the last half-million dollars through a crowdfunding website. The capital-raising drive crashed the site, and shares sold out in seven minutes.
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