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Last week Nine to Noon looked at the situation with the availability of medicinal cannabis in New Zealand.
October 1 marked an end to the bulk importation of unapproved products, leaving just four products from Canadian company Tilray as the only ones that had managed to meet the minimum standards that came into effect in April 2020.
Medsafe has left the door open for doctors and pharmacies to import directly for patients on an individual basis, but there are concerns about how practical this is.
Since the scheme was set up, no New Zealand companies had managed to get medicinal cannabis products to market - but the Medicinal Cannabis Agency announced yesterday the first NZ products from Helius Pharmaceuticals had reached the minimum standards.
Kathryn speaks with Health Minister Andrew Little about how well the scheme is working for medicinal cannabis patients.
Photo: RNZ, 123RF