Medical professionals will soon be able to freely prescribe cannabis-based medicines to their patients.

As of today, Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne has delegated responsibility for all cannabis-based product prescriptions to the Ministry of Health.

'Last week I wrote to the Director-General of Health, advising him that as of February 8, 2017, applications from specialists to the Ministry to prescribe non-pharmaceutical cannabis-based products will no longer need ministerial approval. Approval for pharmaceutical grade cannabis products was similarly delegated some years ago,” says Peter.

'As I stated in my delegation letter to the Director-General, when applications first began to be received it was my view the final decision appropriately lay at ministerial level, rather than exposing officials to risk, given the complicated and contentious nature of the issue – that is to say, the buck stopped with me.

'I have approved every application that has come before me with a positive recommendation – within a matter of minutes once the application came across my desk.”

'Since the first application was approved, guidelines have been developed, consulted on and simplified to allow specialists who are interested in accessing such products for their patients a clear, straight-forward and unobstructed pathway to acquiring the appropriate products.

'I am satisfied that with the development of these guidelines, and with a number of successful applications having been subsequently completed, any risk associated with the early processes has largely abated and I have confidence in the Ministry of Health to handle the process in its entirety from now on.”

He intends to write to the New Zealand Medical Association and the Pharmacy Society of New Zealand outlining the decision and his ‘ongoing expectation' that medical professionals consider the prescribing of cannabis-based products with an open mind.