Medicinal Cannabis Scheme comes into effect in New Zealand

April 1st no joke for many Kiwis as Medical Cannabis access improves

The Medicinal Cannabis Scheme (MCS) comes into effect today and heralds a new era for cannabis as a medicine in New Zealand. The primary objective of the MCS is to increase access to quality medical cannabis products for Kiwi patients.

For some time now GPs have been able to prescribe CBD products but the new rules mean Doctors can now also prescribe products that contain THC. For now though the changes won’t have the full impact as intended. This is because GPs can freely prescribe only products that are approved medicines or those that have been assessed as meeting the minimum quality standard by the Medical Cannabis Agency.

Today only a single medicine (Sativex™) is an approved product and because the MCS has just come into effect no products have yet been assessed by the Medical Cannabis Agency. That is expected to change as a number of New Zealand companies plan to manufacture products to join those that are imported.

A range of further medicinal cannabis products will become available over time as suppliers of medicinal cannabis products apply to the Medicinal Cannabis Agency to assess whether their products meet the medicinal cannabis minimum quality standard

mcinfo.com has updated its website to accommodate the latest regulatory changes for both patients and healthcare professionals.