The medicinal cannabis industry’s got growing pains - with reports thousands of patients are facing stock shortages and a supplier going into voluntary liquidation.

Health New Zealand data shows the number of medicinal cannabis product dispensings soared from 4875 in 2020, when the scheme was launched, to 265,731 in 2025.

Over 80 medicinal cannabis products have been verified since the scheme started in 2020, including 25 new products last year.

Cannabis Clinic Chief Executive Waseem Alzaher said they’ve seen the demand for legal medicinal cannabis rise in recent years, while the regulatory environment is still figuring out how to adapt.

He said they understand stock shortages are impacting many patients, not just their own – and add up to thousands of people.

Alzaher said it’s a huge issue for them.

“Because it leads to medicine discontinuation and we have to transfer people to other products.”
He said it’s difficult for prescribers to import the right quantity, with the legislation mandated three-month shelf life for products making it tougher.

“Although the same product could be good for 12 months in its identical form overseas, again the legislation is getting in the way and makes no sense.”

He said the regulation is now hampering the industry’s ability to grow.

Alzaher said several parts of the process are causing problems, including product registration, the standards being applied and how easy it is to export.

“If we don’t make a move now in the next 12 months, more companies will go under.”

Helius Group, which owns supplier Helius Therapeutics - who entered voluntary redundancy last week - and prescriber CannaPlus, has noticed shortages since December.

Chief Executive Vicky Taylor said there’s more GPs and clinics prescribing and it’s really difficult to react quickly when specific products go out of stock.

“We aren’t making breakfast cereal, we are growing a plant and processing it under very regulated conditions with stringent testing requirements, all of which takes time.”

She said the regulatory hurdles have made things tough.

“A lot of businesses like Helius invested in quite expensive infrastructure and then as the industry has been slower to develop, we’ve been stuck with these high-cost bases.”

A Ministry of Health spokesperson said the agency has not been alerted to any widespread shortages.

“We engage regularly with the industry and are generally notified informally when there are stock shortages.”

They said they also regularly engage with the industry about the regulations, to ensure they strike a balance between maintaining the intent of the regulations and allowing businesses to operate pragmatically.

The agency said it is continuing to process applications for more new medicinal cannabis products.

The Minister for Regulation David Seymour said he’s open to changes the rules with the domestic medicinal cannabis sector, following success in the export market.

“So far, my focus in the medicinal cannabis space has been speeding up processes in the export market. As a result of improvements within Medsafe export licenses are being processed 56% faster than in 2023, and we’re looking into further improvements.

“I’m open to looking at how we can improve regulation for the domestic market as well, I encourage suppliers to contact the Ministry for Regulation with their concerns.”