--- title: Is New Zealand Facing a Cannabis Shortage? description: To make it even worse, the police and air force recently seized 9,000 plants. canonical: https://time.com/4263365/new-zealand-cannabis-shortage/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-17T21:24:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:30:59.511Z og:title: New Zealanders Freak Out About Pot Shortage og:description: Confiscations have left Kiwi cannabis consumers crying og:url: https://time.com/4263365/new-zealand-cannabis-shortage/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: New Zealanders Freak Out About Pot Shortage twitter:description: Confiscations have left Kiwi cannabis consumers crying twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # New Zealanders Are Freaking Out About a Pot Shortage > Sponsored content. 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A police and air force raid [seized 9,000 plants](http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/77607128/police-recover-9000-cannabis-plants-in-aerial-operation) earlier this month, throwing a harsh spotlight on what one New Zealand online magazine called the “great weed shortage of 2016.” Even without the police anti-drug activity, some smokers have been complaining about the struggle to get any at all, reports [_The_ _Spinoff._](http://thespinoff.co.nz/16-03-2016/a-nation-in-crisis-new-zealands-catastrophic-marijuana-shortage/) Upset marijuana customers have taken to Reddit to complain about unjust spikes in cost; an ounce of the illicit substance that previously sold for $200 to $240 is now selling for $275 or more, in U.S. dollars, _The Spinoff_ reports. Besides, it’s already hard enough to consume cannabis in the country—marijuana is illegal in New Zealand, and penalties range from a fine for possession to a prison sentence for growth and distribution. The [_Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/17/new-zealands-cannabis-crisis-smokers-confirm-budding-shortage) spoke to some New Zealanders who voiced complaints about pot supply as well, though some blamed floods for dampening the drug’s availability and others said it only affected some parts of the country. “Blame it on the police, the gangs, the weather or just the grow cycle of your average cannabis harvest,” _The Spinoff_ wrote, “no matter which way you slice it, it’s dry out there.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4263365/new-zealand-cannabis-shortage/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4263365/new-zealand-cannabis-shortage/"},"headline":"New Zealanders Are Freaking Out About a Pot Shortage","datePublished":"2016-03-17T21:24:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:30:59.511Z","description":"To make it even worse, the police and air force recently seized 9,000 plants.","url":"https://time.com/4263365/new-zealand-cannabis-shortage/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Business topic","World"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4263365/new-zealand-cannabis-shortage/","name":"New Zealanders Are Freaking Out About a Pot Shortage"}}]}] ```