Medical marijuana in colonial New Zealand
There was a time when New Zealanders could buy marijuana over the counter for ailments ranging from asthma to corn removal. In the 1880s cannabis or hemp, as it was known then, only cost a shilling an ounce. Mother Aubert used cannabis as a tea for nun’s menstrual cramps at her mission in Jerusalem on the Whanganui River. Brett’s Colonists’ Guide endorsed Indian hemp as a treatment for painful menstruation, too - in a concoction including camphor and opium. Ref: New Zealand Graphic, In the dispensary, 22 September 1906, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, NZG-19060922-6-2.