Not quite The Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Act of 2018 and the 2020 Medicinal Cannabis Scheme (MCS), should mean medicinal cannabis products are available and accessible. Only 1.56% of interview respondents involved in the current research project access cannabis products through their GP, with several citing cost as a barrier. Miracles at the margins Yet all these stories – these “miracles” – exist on the margins, as cannabis products are often unattainable outside of the underground illicit market. Recent legalization of drug checking also means cannabis products could be tested to ensure some level of product safety. Some therapeutic cannabis products could also be reclassified as natural health products, allowing them to be purchased over the counter as has happened in the United States and Europe.
Access to cannabis-based products for medical reasons is technically legal in New Zealand. But changes to the legislation in 2020 have failed to make this potentially life-altering option a reality for many.
Researchers from the University of Otago and Victoria University are exploring the therapeutic use of cannabis in New Zealand through interviews with people who use it to alleviate pain and the symptoms of debilitating illnesses.
Listening to stories of painful, highly complex medical conditions, and the efforts people have made to control their pain with various opioid-based drugs that left them feeling like zombies, has been hard.
But...
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