Medicinal cannabis has been legal by prescription in New Zealand since April 2020, and any registered doctor can prescribe it. You do not need a specialist, a referral, or a particular diagnosis. In practice most people go through a telehealth clinic because it is faster and cheaper than trying to get it through a GP who may not prescribe. Here is how the process actually works, what it costs, and where people get stuck.
The short version
- Fill in a medical questionnaire online.
- Have a video consultation with a doctor, usually 15 minutes.
- If the doctor thinks it is clinically appropriate, they write a prescription.
- The prescription goes to a pharmacy, which dispenses your medicine.
- You pick it up or have it couriered.
Start to finish, this can happen in a week. Sometimes faster.
Do I qualify?
There is no official list of qualifying conditions in New Zealand. Prescribing is a clinical judgement made by the doctor in front of you, based on your history, what you have already tried, and whether they think cannabis is a reasonable option for your situation. People are commonly prescribed for chronic pain, sleep problems, anxiety and nausea, among other things, but nobody can tell you in advance whether you will be approved. A doctor may also decide it is not appropriate, and that is a legitimate outcome.
You need to be 18 or over to book with most clinics.
What it costs
The consultation is the first cost. Telehealth cannabis consults in New Zealand generally sit somewhere between $40 and $100 for an initial appointment, depending on the clinic and whether you are a member of anything.
Then there is the medicine itself, which is not funded by Pharmac. You pay the full price. Dried flower typically runs from around $95 to $140 for 10 grams depending on the product, with some larger 30 gram tins available. CBD oils are usually $120 to $180 for a bottle. Your prescription sets what you can order and how much.
Budget for a courier fee if you are not collecting in person, and for follow-up consultations, which most clinics require periodically.
The Calyx Club route
Calyx Club operates from the same building as the museum, at 19 Beresford Square. It is a membership organisation for medicinal cannabis patients, and it is free to join. What membership gets you:
- A $40 consultation with Calyx Clinic, the telehealth prescribing service in the same building. That is at the cheap end of the market.
- Flexible prescriptions. Rather than being locked to a single named product, a flexible prescription lets you choose across a range of flowers and oils within what your doctor has authorised. That matters more than it sounds: products go out of stock, suppliers change, and what suits you may take a couple of tries to find. It also means you are not paying for another consultation every time you want to switch.
- An online ordering platform that shows exactly what your prescription allows and what is currently in stock, so you can order without phoning anyone.
- Fast dispensing and delivery. Orders go straight through to the pharmacy. You can have it couriered, collect it from Westmere Pharmacy, or pick it up here at 19 Beresford Square.
- Member events at the museum, including patient nights where you can meet other people, try devices and ask questions.
To be clear about who does what: Calyx Clinic is an independent healthcare provider, and the doctors there make all clinical and prescribing decisions. Calyx Club is not a healthcare service; it connects members with the clinic and handles ordering logistics. Medicines are dispensed by Westmere Pharmacy. And Whakamana is a museum: we do not prescribe, dispense or sell cannabis, and we never have.
You can join Calyx Club here. Joining costs nothing, and the medical questionnaire you complete at sign-up is the same one the doctor needs before your consultation.
What happens in the consultation
It is a normal doctor's appointment, over Google Meet or similar. Expect questions about your symptoms, how long you have had them, what you have tried, other medications you take, and your medical and family history. Be honest, including about any past or current cannabis use. Doctors are not there to catch you out, and an accurate picture gets you better advice about products and dosing.
If the doctor prescribes, they will discuss format (dried flower for vaporising, oil taken under the tongue, or both), strength, and how much you can order in a given period. Ask questions. Ask about side effects, about driving, about interactions with your other medicines.
Getting your medicine
Medicinal cannabis is a prescription-only medicine. It is dispensed by a pharmacy, not by a clinic, a club or a museum, and you cannot legally import it yourself or buy it from anyone else. Once your prescription is issued it sits against your patient profile, you order what you are entitled to, and the pharmacy dispenses it to you either for collection or by courier.
Using it
Dried flower is used with a dry herb vaporiser, which heats it without burning it. Smoking prescribed flower is not how it is meant to be used and is not what your doctor will recommend. If you have never used a vaporiser, this is the part where people get lost, and it is the part we can actually help with: we stock a small range at the museum, from certified medical devices down to a $100 manual one, and you can handle all of them in person and ask questions before you spend anything. Some devices are listed on the WAND register as medical devices, which matters for some patients and not others.
Oils are simpler: measured drops under the tongue, as directed on your label.
Things worth knowing
Driving. New Zealand has roadside oral fluid testing. A prescription is not a defence against driving impaired, and the rules around prescribed THC and driving are worth understanding properly before you get behind the wheel. Ask your prescriber directly.
Work. A prescription does not override your employer's drug policy. If you are in a safety-sensitive role, raise it with your prescriber and think carefully before you start.
Travel. Taking prescribed cannabis overseas is generally a bad idea and is illegal in many countries regardless of your New Zealand prescription.
Your GP. Telling your regular doctor you are using prescribed cannabis is sensible, particularly if you take other medications.
Come and ask
Plenty of people walk into the museum with exactly these questions and no intention of looking at exhibits, which is fine. We are open Wednesday to Sunday, entry is free, and someone will talk it through with you without trying to sell you anything. See Plan your visit for hours and directions.
This is general information, not medical advice. Whakamana Cannabis Museum is an education organisation and does not prescribe, dispense or supply cannabis. Talk to a doctor about your own situation.
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