Will medicinal cannabis ever be affordable?

Medicinal cannabis has been legal for GPs to prescribe since 2020, but the lack of government subsidy is still forcing sick Kiwis to resort to the black market over the much more expensive Pharmac-approved treatments.

At this time, no cannabis products are listed on the Pharmaceutical Schedule, a list of medications funded by the government. It is unclear if any will join the list soon.

Two medicinal cannabis products have been considered for funding by Pharmac – Sativex, which was declined in 2015, and Epidiolyx a CBD oil, which was assessed last month, and “findings will be released in due course”.

Anyone can apply to have a medication funded by Pharmac, but the application must go through a lengthy process – spanning multiple years – before funding is granted.

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Pharmac takes four factors into consideration when funding a product: the need, the health benefits, the costs and savings and the suitability of the product.

Pharmac does consider funding for individual patients, and at the time of publishing, it has funded products for eight people.

Since medicinal cannabis was legalised two years ago, multiple chronically ill Kiwis say they have had their quality of life significantly improved by the medicine.

Earlier this year, 27-year-old Chiara Lowe had run out of conventional medical options to treat her Crohn’s disease.

Lowe suffered weekly flare-ups of the inflammatory bowel disease, where she would be incapacitated with pain, bloating, vomiting and severe fatigue.

Lowe tried a range of medications, including immune suppressant azathioprine​ and Humira​ injections, which left her with skin rashes, arthritic joints and painful rashes.

“I didn’t go out, I didn’t socialise. My energy levels were awful, I was constantly losing weight,” Lowe said.

Lowe was put on to medicinal cannabis by a friend who also has Crohn’s, and had been taking prescription cannabis.

Dr Waseem Alzaher, co-founder of the Cannabis Clinic in Auckland, says his medicinal cannabis practice helps patients access “quality products, without adverse reactions”.

However, the cost of legal cannabis remains a financial barrier for many.

“I don’t understand why the government can subsidise my injections for $1400 each, but not a CBD oil for $200 a month,” Lowe said.

Ingrid Hurle, 22, has been using medicinal cannabis to treat her endometriosis, and knows of people who were still resorting to black market cannabis for treating medical conditions, despite there being no quality controls.

“People would rather take the risk and buy from the black market than pay for CBD oil,” Hurle said.

“It’s not like you’re smoking a joint – it’s medication to get you through the day.

“If I wasn’t able to afford medicinal cannabis I would be a burden on the health system, I would be costing the Government so much money.”

Both Lowe and Hurle are having to economise in other areas of life as well as seek financial support for their parents to afford their medication.

Alzaher is confident the news is not all “doom and gloom” for people who would like to use medicinal cannabis but can’t afford it through legal channels. He says competition will help lower prices.

“Cost will go down. Right now an ounce on the black market is around $350, and we offer the same amount of quality medicinal cannabis flower for $400,” he said.

Alzaher also said medicinal cannabis had turned many of his patients “from unemployed to financially productive” Kiwis.

“Our role as trained specialists is to make people functional, not high, and give them a better life,” he said.