NZMCC board member Bruce Wallace is focused on bringing our local supply and demand together so that industry producers, prescribers, and patients can all thrive.
What drew you to the medical cannabis sector?
Partially it was the opportunity to help build a new industry that could create high-quality jobs, and partly it was the desire to do something meaningful with my career. I’d heard lots of inspiring stories of people being helped by medicinal cannabis when other conventional treatments failed, but it was difficult to untangle the hype from the science from the stigma. Some people said it cured practically everything; others said it was just a recreational drug masquerading as medicine. What excited me was the idea of bringing high-quality data and scientific rigour to medicinal cannabis, so doctors and patients have a clear understanding of what indications medicinal cannabis is a useful treatment for, in what doses and forms, and where it is not appropriate.
NZMCC talk about complementary strengths. What is your strong suit? Where will you be leaning on the others to bring to the group?
My strong suit is a solid understanding of medicinal cannabis regulations and how businesses can work within them, without being crippled by costs and delays. My background is Quality Assurance and GMP manufacturing, so I have clear ideas on how to apply pharmaceutical quality standards to plant-based medicines, and how Quality can be a key competitive advantage, domestically and internationally. I’m not the most creative person, so I will lean on others to bring the new ideas and push the boundaries of what is possible.
We might disagree on how to deliver some aspects of the sector, but what do you see as the “North Star?” What vision and values do the Board share?
Our north star is in our name, the New Zealand Medicinal Cannabis Council. As an industry, we need to always remember that we make and prescribe medicines, so we need to start with the patient in mind and let that drive our priorities and decision-making. We need strong businesses, but we can’t let business and economic drivers eclipse our commitment to patient care and safety. Central to that (as well as just good business practice) we need our industry to operate ethically.
What do you see as the biggest opportunity — or challenge — facing the industry right now?
Our biggest challenge is a fractured industry where every company operates alone and competes with each other, rather than cooperating. There are lots of opportunities for win-win partnerships if we are open to them.
What does meaningful progress for the local cannabis industry look like to you in the next 12 months, and what are you personally focused on achieving?
New Zealand has a large number of licensed growers with very limited outlets for their products. At the same time, we have a preference from prescribers and patients for locally produced medicines, yet most medicinal cannabis products in New Zealand are imported. We need to bring together our local supply and demand so industry producers, prescribers and patients can all thrive.