The volume of medicinal cannabis prescribed by doctors in
New Zealand is up 84% in the first six months of 2020
according to new Government data.
Medicinal cannabis
use is heavily regulated in NZ. Under regulations made under
the Misuse of Drugs Act and Medicines Act, every
prescription for medicinal cannabis written by a doctor must
be notified to Government.
The Government data shows
that in January of this year there were 1,002 prescriptions
for medicinal cannabis but by July this has increased to
1,842.
Patient application data shows a quarter (26%)
of 4,400 patients seeking more information about medicinal
cannabis are living with mental health conditions including
anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder or, Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which may result from abuse
at some time in their life.
The patient research which
was compiled and analysed…
