Hemp forestry needed to address safety concerns in Ikaroa-Rawhiti

Falling pine trees are the greatest risk to forestry workers, not cannabis, according to ALCP Ikaroa-Rawhiti candidate Michael Appleby.

He said if forestry owners switched to hemp forests, they could harvest the trees annually with 25 times the production value of a pine harvest, each and every year.

"No one would be put at risk by a falling Hemp tree," Mr Appleby said

"Accidents in the forestry industry have become a pressing concern for the Ikaroa-Rawhiti electorate."

Native Affairs show Illegal Tender exposed the fact that hemp could revitalise the rural Maori economy if only convicted cannabis growers were allowed to transfer their growing skills to hemp.

"It would be a simple change in regulation that ALCP could arrange if elected to parliament," Mr Appleby said.

"Hemp Homes are the warmest, driest, cheapest and most environmentally sustainable form of home construction. Hempcrete is described by Kevin McCloud as the best building material he has come across."

Hemp foods are also on the verge of a massive market expansion in Aotearoa/New Zealand following a move by ANSFA to legalise the protein.

And Hemp's many different spin-off industries would create numerous job opportunities for local iwi, including textiles, construction, foods, insulation and biofuels.

ENDS

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