Healthcare Professionals Support GP Medical Cannabis Prescribing

New Poll Shows Majority Back GP Prescribing

A new poll by Horizon Research shows that a majority of healthcare professionals back the idea of GP prescribing of Medical Cannabis products. Nearly two thirds support GPs having these prescribing rights with 12% unsure and just under a quarter against the idea.

This is despite the proposed Medical Cannabis Scheme advocating that Medical Cannabis products (other than CBD products) would require the endorsement of a specialist. The research indicates that many doctors believe that there would be not enough specialists to deal with the expected interest in medical cannabis once new laws come into effect at the end of this year.

On the issue of capacity, 71% of all survey respondents said there would be not be enough specialists to cope with patients requiring approval for medicinal cannabis prescriptions; 15% thought there would be; and 14% were unsure. Among just GPs, 74% believed there would not be enough specialists.

The results are from a nationwide survey of 728 healthcare professionals in New Zealand, conducted by Horizon Research between 17 and 22 July 2019. At a 95% confidence level, the maximum margin of error on the overall sample is ± 3.7%.

The Government has committed to establishing a Medicinal Cannabis Scheme to improve access to quality medicinal cannabis products through:

• enabling the commercial cultivation of medicinal cannabis and the manufacture of medicinal cannabis products in New Zealand

• setting standards for medicinal cannabis products so that medical practitioners can prescribe them with more confidence.

Feedback closed on August 7th and The Ministry of Health says it will analyse the response and consult with its Medicinal Cannabis Advisory Group before providing advice to the Government on the outcomes of the consultation, including any proposed changes.

The aim is to have regulations made by 18 December 2019 and to have the Medicinal Cannabis Scheme operational in the first quarter of 2020.