The Medicinal Cannabis Scheme by the numbers

New Zealand's Medicinal Cannabis Scheme has been running since April 2020, and there's now enough data to see how it's evolved. The picture is one of fast patient growth, falling prices, a decisive shift in the kinds of products used, and a domestic producer sector under real financial pressure. Here's a sourced snapshot — with an important caveat about the numbers up front.

A note on counting

There is no single official "patient count." The Ministry of Health warns that its supply data can't be used to determine the number of prescriptions, patients or doses. So the data comes in separate streams that measure different things — packs supplied, dispensings, and survey-based uptake proportions. Treat each separately, and be wary of anyone quoting a single tidy "number of patients."

Patient and prescription growth

By every measure, uptake has grown rapidly:

• Packs supplied (a Medsafe series) rose from about 63,600 in 2022 to roughly 380,000 in 2025 — though annual growth has slowed sharply, from +185% to around +25%.
• Dispensings (Health NZ data) grew from under 5,000 in 2020 to over 265,000 in 2025 — roughly 54 times.
• Prescription uptake among medicinal users, tracked by Massey University's NZ Drug Trends Survey, climbed from 2% in 2020 to around 44% in 2025. The share of people using cannabis for medicinal reasons rose from 20% to 34% over the same period.

The common thread: far more New Zealanders are now accessing cannabis legally than at the scheme's start.

How people access it

The access pattern is striking. In 2025, around 83% of prescriptions came from dedicated cannabis clinics and about 21% from GPs, with roughly three-quarters of consultations done online. This reflects the reality that, although any doctor can prescribe, most GPs are cautious — so telehealth clinics have become the main front door.

What people use it for

The leading reasons for use in 2025 were sleep or insomnia (around 72%), pain (around 63%) and mental health (around 62%) — notably, areas where the clinical evidence is more limited than the popularity suggests.

The shift to THC and flower

One of the biggest changes has been in the type of product. THC-containing products rose from around 39% of supply in 2022 to about 80% in 2025, while CBD-only supply stayed roughly flat. And most products are now dried flower rather than oils — a significant shift in how patients are using the scheme.

Prices are falling

NZ's 2025 drug-trends data found prescribed cannabis is now cheaper and more available than ever, with prices described as comparable to illegal-market costs — flower quoted from around $10 a gram. This is a meaningful change that has lowered one of the scheme's biggest barriers, even as cost (with no general Pharmac funding) remains the leading reason people don't use it.

A producer sector under strain

Behind the patient growth, the supply side has struggled. Several producers have collapsed or exited — including a major operator entering voluntary administration in March 2026 — and clinics have reported stock shortages affecting patients. The clearest growth story for producers has actually been export, with cannabis flower exports growing dramatically (from tens of kilograms in 2021 to over two tonnes in 2025) as companies pivot from the small domestic market toward overseas demand.

How New Zealand compares

It's instructive to look across the Tasman. Australia's medicinal cannabis market reached roughly A$1.1 billion in 2025 — one of the largest in the world — with over a million Australians having tried medicinal cannabis and more than 1,700 authorised prescribers. New Zealand's market, at perhaps NZ$78m–NZ$200m depending on how it's measured, is far smaller — roughly ten to fifteen times smaller than Australia's, even after adjusting for the population gap.

Why the difference? Australia rolled out telehealth and a class-based prescriber pathway that removed friction, built a larger willing prescriber base, and (unlike NZ) allowed aggressive direct-to-consumer advertising. New Zealand deliberately restricts that advertising, and prescriber confidence remains the binding constraint — around two-thirds of NZ doctors say they wouldn't currently prescribe. The Australian experience is double-edged, though: its rapid, advertising-driven growth has prompted safety and quality concerns and calls for tighter oversight. New Zealand's more cautious path is slower but arguably steadier.

Equity gaps

The aggregate growth also hides persistent inequities. Māori, low-income and rural patients are less likely to make the move from the illegal market to the legal scheme, largely because of cost and access. Estimates have suggested a quarter of a million New Zealanders still use cannabis outside the scheme. Closing that gap — making legal, quality-tested access affordable and reachable for everyone — remains one of the scheme's central unfinished tasks.

Putting it together

Six years in, the scheme has clearly succeeded in moving large numbers of people from the black market into legal, quality-tested access, with falling prices and growing choice. At the same time, it's still constrained by GP reluctance (pushing patients to clinics), the absence of Pharmac funding, periodic supply shortages, and a domestic producer base that's consolidating hard. The headline trend — more patients, more THC and flower, cheaper prices, fragile supply — captures where the New Zealand market sits in 2026.

Last reviewed 26 October 2026 — education, not medical advice. Figures are drawn from cited sources and use different counting bases. Sources: Massey NZ Drug Trends Survey 2025; Business of Cannabis — NZ market data; Beehive — export licensing.