Police have shut down allegations of medicinal cannabis manipulation of one of New Zealand's most famous “Green Fairy” and urged a gush of support from hundreds of people relying on prominent politicians and such products to relieve the pain.
Police last week raided the countryside Northland property of 66-year-old Paul Smith, widely known as “Gandalf,” destroying plants and greenhouses. Seizure of cannabis products. Smith was charged with cultivating, owning for supply, selling cannabis, and potentially serving an eight-year prison sentence, and was summoned to court.
Medicinal cannabis has been legal in New Zealand since 2020, but patients rely on obtaining a doctor's prescription for treatment. The so-called “green fairies” offer hidden market products that are cheaper and more readily available.
More than 50 protesters gathered outside Whangarei District Court on Monday, where Smith pleaded not guilty to the charges.
“This is not an attack on one man, it's an attack on hundreds of patients who rely on affordability,” said Pearl Sonbalg, a Gandalf patient and a protest organizer who is convened by the Auckland Patient Group.
Last week, around 40 police officers arrived at Gandalf's property using sledgehammers and shafts, destroying about 40 plants and greenhouses, Shonbarg told the Guardian.
“They plundered his house and took him all… thank-you cards and letters.”
Smith “was not a criminal mastermind,” she said. “He's a caring barefoot hippie with a torn truck and a heart of gold.”
Those who want to access medicinal cannabis will not always be able to get a prescription or feel uncomfortable asking a doctor for one because of the stigma surrounding cannabis. For others, price tags up to $400 a month put legal products out of reach, Sonvalg said.
“It's the wealthy people who have access to legal cannabis right now in New Zealand. There's no equal access to these products,” she said.
Smith is a social media company. Donation page It was set up to help him pay his legal fees.
“To all the lovely people out there, I give you a big embrace, I am so grateful for your kind words and support… I have never experienced anything like this in my life.”
According to the NZ Health Survey, Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit drug in New Zealand, and has been used by over 500,000 adults between 2023 and 2024. In 2020, the country voted against legalizing cannabis.
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said the attack on Smith was “an absolute terrible waste of public resources,” and threw her support behind the protesters.
The costly “war on drugs” has done little to reduce drug use or drive addiction statistics, she said, adding that a new, evidence-based approach is needed.
Swarbrick has long defended the legalization of cannabis. Recent Massey University Research Two-thirds of New Zealand medicinal cannabis users access it through hidden markets, primarily because of the cost of legal cannabis.
“It should be a really clear indication that the rules we are currently implementing are not working and that we should do something. [them]…Instead of terrorizing a 66-year-old man. ”
In a statement to the Guardian, police said it was inappropriate for them to comment on Smith's case, as the matter was before the court.
