A woman believed to be New Zealand's first cannabis grower is set to become a saint.
Suzanne Aubert is a name that may not be immediately recognised, but as Sister Mary Joseph or Mother Aubert she championed the rights of the poor and under-privileged in a life dedicated to her church.
Much of her convent's income came through the sales of Aubert's medicinal formulations, including many cannabis-based medicines - Aubert is the first person known to grow cannabis in New Zealand.
She also started a home for those less fortunate at Jerusalem on the Whanganui River in 1885.
In addition to the usual customs of religious life, she taught and nursed, farmed newly cleared bush, tended an orchard, made and marketed medicines, sold fruit to tourists and raised homeless children, as a result the community grew and thrived.