New Medical Cannabis Policies by Ministry of Health in New Zealand are Coming for Controlled Substances

New Zealand’s ministry of health is coming up with a scheme for medicinal marijuana in the country. This scheme will legalize domestic and commercial cannabis cultivation and production for medical uses.

The ministry is looking to making good quality medical marijuana more accessible to people so that more patients can access medical cannabis products. Physicians will be responsible for prescribing medical marijuana products.

New Zealand Patients Can Now Access Palliative Care

The government has legalized marijuana for medical use and made it more accessible to patients. This approach aims at helping persons who are suffering from progressive diseases alleviate chronic pain.

About 25,000 New Zealand residents can benefit from palliative care. Provision will be covering these patients, but no information clarifies who will be opting illegal marijuana.

Here, provision implies that if a patient gets a cannabis prescription, he/ she can still use illicit cannabis.

For the provision, patients would have to get a piece of a physician’s evidence which would have to state that a specific patient needs palliative care so as to avoid prosecution.

Controlled Cannabis Substances in New Zealand

The health ministry of New Zealand clarifies that (tetrahydrocannabinol) THC and related psychoactive compounds are under the controlled substances’ list. Non psychoactive Cannabidiol (CBD) derivatives don’t fall under the category of controlled substances.

Cannabis’ main psychoactive component is tetrahydrocannabinol. All compounds relating to this compound are classified as psychoactive, while all Cannabidiol derivatives are non-psychoactive.

According to the Amendment act for the misuse of drugs, all compounds that come from the THC family will be objectionable. This definition includes any cannabis chemical ingredient that can convert into a psychoactive compound after alteration, e.g., through heating.

This step makes CBD-based products more manufacturable and easily accessible. As a result, there will be a lower risk of diversion or abuse of cannabis.