In our experience, there are two main barriers stopping New Zealanders from accessing medicinal cannabis; a doctor willing to prescribe and it’s cost.
In this article I am going to show you just how much medicinal cannabis costs and what you, or your loved ones, can do to make it as affordable as possible.
How Much Does Medicinal Cannabis Cost?
Over the long term, the biggest price you will need to pay is for the medicinal cannabis products. Initially you will need to pay for a consultation with a doctor, but this is will be only a fraction of the long-term product costs. For example, once you are a registered patient with the Cannabis Clinic, we will not charge you any repeat prescription fees and a follow-up consultation is only $79. Usually the consultation fee is not the biggest hurdle for most of our patients.
Currently, medicinal cannabis products cost between $100 – $300 per bottle, depending on their concentration and size. To give you an example, an average user who takes 75mg of CBD oil and 1-2mg of THC, will pay about $10/day for the product.
What CBD Products are Available and How Much do They Cost?
I would love to be able to write a list of every product available on the market in New Zealand, as well as their respective cost, but believe it or not that would be considered illegal. And this is likely the main reason why you are having a hard time finding out the specific details of products from various suppliers.
This is because all medicinal cannabis products are considered unapproved products under “section 29” of the Medicines Act. Medicinal cannabis is definitely legal, but just not approved for the treatment of any particular health condition, and therefore, cannot be advertised at all.
To give you an example, Paracetamol is approved for pain, but not for asthma. Therefore, it can be advertised as a medicine for pain, but not for asthma.
Medicinal cannabis is available and legal but not approved, meaning that even mentioning the name of a brand here is illegal.
That is why it is crucial you are using medicinal cannabis and CBD oil prescribed by registered doctors and not buying online – we know there are many unreliable and illegal products advertised.
How Can I Save Money and Reduce Costs?
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1) Find a willing and experienced doctor at an affordable price.
The last thing you will want to do is pay for multiple consultations with a GP who you are not sure has any experience in prescribing medicinal cannabis. We also hear from a lot of our patients that their GPs are not even willing to consider medicinal cannabis as a treatment option. Most consultations these days are around $50 – $80, depending on where you live. After 2-3 consultations, the costs can start accumulating.
If you require THC in your treatment, an experienced doctor is even more important. THC is an important element to help in the treatment of chronic pain and various other health conditions.
If your doctor needs to refer you to a specialist before being willing to prescribe THC, you could end up waiting months just for the specialist appointment. Alongside multiple doctor and specialist visits, you may still not end up with a prescription.
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2) Determine which medicinal cannabis product will suit you best.
If you have never tried medicinal cannabis and are wondering if it may help, I recommend you start off with a small bottle of CBD oil. This is a great way of testing the waters and seeing how it works for you!
If you have already been using CBD oil or THC, and you know it works for you already, I would do the opposite and invest in the bottle with the highest total amount of medicinal cannabis. While the up-front cost will be higher, the daily cost will be lower.
For example, with a bottle that has a total of 1000mg CBD oil, a daily dose of 50mg will cost about $7/day. With a 2500mg bottle, this is reduced to about $5/day.
For more information about CBD oil and products available in NZ, consider checking out my e-book here.
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3) Find the best pharmacy.
Once you get your script from your GP, the pharmacy is buying and ordering the product on your behalf. Depending on where you live, the price may fluctuate. We have also had patients being offered almost double the price of what another pharmacy would charge!
This is why at the Cannabis Clinic we order our patient’s products direct from the suppliers, instead of providing you with a script.
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4) Consider paying for the product over time.
It is much harder to commit $300 upfront, but easier to pay $37.50 every week for 8 weeks.
This is why we incorporated payment plans to our medicinal cannabis service, which allows you to pay for the consultation and products over time with 0% interest.
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5) Consider the WINZ Disability Allowance subsidy, ACC, or private insurance.
We have had some success in helping our patients get financial support from WINZ via a disability allowance in supporting the ongoing cost of their medicinal cannabis use. While the result is dependent on your case manager and specific situation, it is possible. Whilst the cover may not be for the full cost of the product, it will nevertheless help. Please note that we cannot guarantee a positive outcome.
While claiming on ACC is also possible, unfortunately we have found them harder to deal with. The good news is that we are hoping this will change over time and Medicinal Cannabis Awareness NZ (MCANZ) is doing some great campaigning and work to push this forward.
Private health insurance may also cover your costs! Although we are not an affiliated Southern Cross clinic just yet, we have had success with patients claiming costs. Do check your fine print, as your cover may not include unapproved medications (such as which medicinal cannabis) but only the consultation cost.
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6) Make sure you are taking your correct product dose.
Every day we see patients taking the wrong dose of their medicinal cannabis medication and this can be costly over the long term. I know you are very keen to get started and to see a benefit, but remember that using too much means the costs can quickly get out of hand.
I always recommend a very gentle and slow approach to using medicinal cannabis, especially CBD oil. This advice is even more relevant for conditions such as PTSD and anxiety, where the effect may not be so obvious immediately. We usually start at 25mg/day and increase it slowly over a period of time.
Stopping at the right dose when it starts to work is the key. The last thing you want to be doing is using a high dose (at a higher cost), when a smaller dose would be giving you the benefit you need.
Confirming your dose is extremely important for medicinal cannabis because all products are in liquid form and converting how many ml (and drops) to the mg per dose can be confusing. Double and triple check. If you are unsure, please ask.
Dosing is really important to get right and mistakes are very common. Instructions like this for our patients are critical in ensuring that you take your medicine at the correct time and in the right amount.
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7) Don’t use it if you don’t need it.
Using your product only when you need it is important to avoid wasting it. This can be tricky with CBD oil as it sometimes takes regular use for 2-3 weeks to see an effect. But for THC, the results are usually much quicker and it can be used on a “as needed” basis, as opposed to daily.
If you are using Sativex, chances are you are paying up to $1000 per pack for your product. Via a specialist approval, it is possible for you to access much cheaper THC products (at around $150/bottle). If you cannot arrange this through your own specialist, please book in with us so we can process the paperwork on your behalf.
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9) Apply for Cannabis Clinic Help
This is a program we are developing to help those in most need (WINZ or community service card holders) be able to access products at the cheapest price possible. Once launched, we will update this section on our website.
Conclusion
Finding the right treatment plan in your medicinal cannabis journey is not cheap, but it does not need to be unaffordable. Through various smart choices, as well as the right advice, you can be one step ahead in making sure your money is well spent.
For more information about CBD oil in NZ and products available, consider consulting with one of our highly trained doctors.
If you have a story to share or a question to ask, I would love to help below.
