An Auckland doctor is calling for a law change to allow him to prescribe medicinal cannabis to patients.
Kingsland Family Health Centre's Dr Graham Gulbransen hopes to treat sufferers of muscle spasms, nausea, seizures and weight gain with the drug.
Currently, patients wanting medical cannabis must be signed off by a specialist, then by the Ministry of Health.
The Ministry of Health takes an average of 30 working days to sign off on non-pharmaceutical grade cannabis product.
The only exception is the medical cannabis product Sativex, used to treat patients with multiple sclerosis.
"It's very frustrating, I think, that, as someone who's done some training and has a lot of experience in treating drug problems," Dr Gulbransen says.
"I should just be able to prescribe that myself without needing to go through an approval system."
This year, there has been eight applications, with six receiving approval.
New Health Minister David Clark says he wants medical cannabis available for people with terminal illnesses or suffering from chronic pain but is still being advised on the matter.
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