Kiwis with an internet connection and $45 could soon be getting cannabis sent directly to their letterbox – and all completely legally.

The development comes thanks to new online clinic RestoreMe, the brainchild of Brendon Ogilvy​, the former commercial director of Bay of Plenty medicinal cannabis company Eqalis.

RestoreMe is set to launch on December 1.

Brendon says the platform aims to solve accessibility and cost issues he believes prevents legal access for many medicinal cannabis users in New Zealand.

Fittingly for an online service, the idea came to Brendon via the wires too.

'Friendly calls from patients on a daily basis. The constant theme was ‘can you tell me how to approach my doctor for this?'”

He says the calls often came from older patients 'too scared to broach the subject” with their general practitioner, leaving him convinced 'there's a place for a specialist clinic”.

Brendon says the site works by having patients register their interest for an initial remote online consultation, costing $45, with a registered GP where it is determined whether medicinal cannabis is a suitable treatment option.

If that's approved, patients are given a low-cost prescription and can then receive their medicinal cannabis through the post.

Unsurprisingly, Brendon says there are a lot of regulatory hoops to jump through.

He says both the Ministry of Health and the Medical Council have to be satisfied they have robust processes with regard to both who can access the medicinal cannabis, and the team prescribing it.

Patients have to complete an 'exhaustive” questionnaire and the process includes accessing their last 90 days of medical records, with patients deemed 'highly complex” referred to Dr Graham Gulbransen​, one of the first GPs in New Zealand to prescribe medicinal cannabis.

'The GP will know quite a lot about you.”

Brendon says the post-pandemic shift has seen people conduct more of their lives online, including 'tele-medicine” consults, also convinced him the time is right for this online service.

He says when medicinal cannabis first became legal in 2020, pharmacies were often charging clients double the wholesale prices.

He says while costs have since come down, price and access remain the two most significant barriers.

'We know there are currently around 266,700 medicinal cannabis users in New Zealand, but only six per cent of this usage is legal despite the laws changing in 2020.”

Many amongst that 94 per cent cohort access their cannabis via ‘Green Fairies', the term for someone who supplies cannabis to others for medicinal reasons.

However, first-of-its-kind research from Crown Research Institute Environmental Science and Research in 2021 found a mixed bag when it came to quality.

Brendon says their cannabis will come primarily from Medsafe verified New Zealand producers.

'RestoreMe will provide the thousands of Kiwis living with chronic ailments or those seeking new wellness solutions, with unbiased health and wellbeing information and advice without the risk of potentially facing stigma or judgement.

'Our goal is to democratise the local medicinal cannabis industry, improving access through technology to connect qualified GPs and nurses with patients for inexpensive consultations and prescriptions.”

Pearl Schomburg began taking ‘Green Fairy' medicinal cannabis products to get relief from RSI and arthritis. Photo: Chris McKeen/Stuff.

He says the team, which includes five GPs at present, will work with patients to develop personalised treatment plans in conjunction with their existing medicines, and through follow-up consultations they will track patients' progress, making adjustments as required.

He says the follow-up consultations will be priced at $25.

'If you are prescribed medicinal cannabis during your consult, you can expect to receive your delivery of medicine within two to three business days if fulfilling through the RestoreMe partner pharmacy.”

However, one medicinal cannabis user who had turned to the ‘Green Fairy' market, Auckland great-grandmother Pearl Schomburg​, is unsure whether RestoreMe will make a dent in the medicinal black market.

'Some folk who have no prior cannabis experience, knowledge or connections, and have an unsupportive GP may use a clinic like this if they have the financial means to do so,” she says.

'But those folk already using illicit product either self-grown and made, or provided by a friend, family member or a ‘Green Fairy', will never go to clinics for an inferior, over-priced product that offers little relief.”

She says the legal route will have one huge plus for some seeking medicinal cannabis however, 'in order to retain/safeguard their jobs or to alleviate the stress of illicit access”.

'But most will not rely on that scripted product for relief of symptoms and will continue using their high-quality, organic, full-spectrum products either from the local cannabis marketplace or their own gardens.”

-Benn Bathgate/Stuff.