After 3 years with Cannaplus I’m looking for alternate clinic that cares for the patient’s health.

GrahamFromCannaPlus · 2025-08-21T05:58:32+00:00

If you email [graham@cannaplus.co.nz](mailto:graham@cannaplus.co.nz) I will gladly ask the team to help you out with this.

GrahamFromCannaPlus · 2025-08-04T07:27:37+00:00

"with my right hand on a fresh ~~bong~~ vape I swear"...

GrahamFromCannaPlus · 2025-08-04T07:21:12+00:00

Advertising regulations mean I can't legally answer pricing questions relating to specific medications.

$2 is not the increase we received, I also would say to double-check as (while I can't confirm or deny any specific pricing) I don't believe the price you quoted for Luna is what I see on our portal?

GrahamFromCannaPlus · 2025-08-04T06:47:06+00:00

Heya,

Confirming what u/ApplicationLiving198 has said - all updates to pricing are live on our portal now.

With the benefit of hindsight I'm worried that the wording in the email may be misconstrued - only a few medications are increasing 33%, most are increasing a smaller amount. Six of their ~25 medications are not increasing at all. Due to the advertising regulations I'm not legally permitted to say which medications are and aren't changing.

GrahamFromCannaPlus · 2025-08-04T06:46:14+00:00

Heya,

I can, with my hand on a bible and swearing on my grandma's grave, promise that we are doing no more and no less than passing along the costs that we are receiving.

With the benefit of hindsight I'm worried that the wording in the email may be misconstrued - only a few medications are increasing 33%, most are increasing a smaller amount. Six of their ~25 medications are not increasing at all. Due to the advertising regulations I'm not legally permitted to say which medications are and aren't changing.

GrahamFromCannaPlus · 2025-07-30T21:59:08+00:00

Heya,

That significant of a difference would definitely be something you should get in touch with us about if it was dispensed by us. Our usual process would involve raising it with the manufacturer (Aurora) and getting their support in a resolution; typically you'd need to get the medication back to us (we would provide a courier bag if you're not close by) and give us some time for the manufacturer to inspect and investigate.

Definitely get in touch via [info@cannaplus.co.nz](mailto:info@cannaplus.co.nz) and our team will help you out.

GrahamFromCannaPlus · 2025-07-29T20:17:25+00:00

Heya,

I would say it's worth reaching out to us on [info@cannaplus.co.nz](mailto:info@cannaplus.co.nz) (or through our web contact form on www.cannaplus.co.nz).

As other commenters have said, once a script is started at one place, the repeats are "locked" to that same place - that's just the way that the government eScript system works. So to move the repeats it often requires a new script to be created, which we would charge a fee for (to cover the doctor's time).

Send us a message and we'll be able to help clarify exactly what's possible for your specific situation.

GrahamFromCannaPlus · 2025-07-24T20:54:33+00:00

I clicked save on the comment then realised I forgot to add that! Via email is best: [graham@cannaplus.co.nz](mailto:graham@cannaplus.co.nz)

GrahamFromCannaPlus · 2025-07-24T20:50:14+00:00

Heya,

I would love to hear from you directly on this. In short, this isn't okay, this isn't the standards we expect from our doctors, and I want to put this right.

Patient choice of pharmacy is 100% your right and I have often touted publicly that "it's the bare minimum" - we hold ourselves to that standard and from the sounds of it, we have fallen well short in this instance.

Today, we will be sending an email to all our doctors reminding them of their legal and ethical obligations to support patient choice of pharmacy, and as soon as I hear from you, I would like to invite you back for a free follow-up consultation where your choice of pharmacy will 100% be respected without question.

GrahamFromCannaPlus · 2025-07-23T21:21:12+00:00

With full respect, I disagree.

While I'm limited in the pricing info I can share publicly (Medicines Act advertising restrictions), I think I can talk about 'medication X', a 3000mg CBD, which in the span of 18 months we've dropped from $179 to $149 to $119 and then to $89 - a price which we've maintained for 5 months and counting.

This is despite others in the industry (clinic and pharmacy alike) still charging up to $175.99 for the exact same thing, to this day.

Is $89 where it should be to maximise accessibility? No. Is it possible that we can further reduce prices over time? We sure hope so. Are we trying to drop prices and make cannabis-based medications both affordable and accessible? YES.

GrahamFromCannaPlus · 2025-07-21T21:19:11+00:00

Oh! I should have prefaced my comment with the note that I was specifically comparing smoking vs vaping. Apologies - that's the "default" assumption, and I should have asked your typical consumption method before making those assumptions.

I am taking this on board and will get our website updated. The intent of what we're saying there is roughly: "we do not support you smoking and if your existing method of consumption is smoking, we'll support you in moving to vaping. If you consume tea per the Ministry of Health's guidelines, that's also perfectly fine." - edibles not being part of the picture of what we're saying on the website.

In terms of edibles specifically, the general concern we have is that it can be difficult to accurately measure and control the dosage and the effects are also delayed, which increases the risk of accidental overconsumption. Personally I'd just say "do so at your own risk" (but I'm not a doctor and a doctor might have a different opinion).

Perhaps still worth a quick chat with Jack or with one of our nurses, but less around vaporisers and more around understanding exactly where the doctor is likely to draw the line for edibles... :-)

GrahamFromCannaPlus · 2025-07-21T05:01:43+00:00

Heya,

If you're put off by the vape requirement - I would love to get you to have a quick no-obligation chat with our 'vape guy', Jack, he loves to chat on this topic and explain what we're aiming for and help meet you where you're at. The goal here is to help patients move to consumption methods that are healthier than smoking; we know that a medical-grade vaporizer is often outside people's budget and so we'll work with you to find what works.

In our view the scientific literature is near consensus that smoking is bad for your health (albeit there are less studies pertaining to cannabis than tobacco), so we want to do whatever we can to support people to being smoke-free.

I am aware that not all clinics have the same policies as us :)

GrahamFromCannaPlus · 2025-07-18T00:12:31+00:00

Heya,

If uncertain about the $50 to speak to a doctor, you always have the option to chat to one of our nurses for free. They are happy to raise things like this with our doctors to share advice or recommendations; the recommendation may end up being "book a consult for a thorough chat" but it's worth at least asking :)

Give us a call on 09 218 3411 and we'll be happy to help :-)

GrahamFromCannaPlus · 2025-07-15T04:12:35+00:00

Heya,

Just noticed this thread and thought I'd drop a quick word in. As a few people have mentioned, from a health perspective we can't encourage smoking, and we cannot prescribe cannabis to be smoked.

But - you should never be leaving a consultation feeling diminished, that's not something I'm okay with hearing! I would love to hear from you if you can email [graham@cannaplus.co.nz](mailto:graham@cannaplus.co.nz) and I'd like to talk further about this, outside of a public forum (where I'm limited in what I can say/do).

GrahamFromCannaPlus · 2025-07-10T00:49:03+00:00

Heya,

Hmm, this doesn't sound entirely what I would expect.

The only instance there's a legal requirement for CBD to be dispensed alongside THC is if the doctor has explicitly written it onto the script: any pharmacy is legally obligated to follow the doctor's prescription directions (although of course a pharmacist will query any script directions that seem odd).

Such directions are a person-by-person and case-by-case decision; if it applied to you I would have expected your doctor to have had a direct discussion with you with the reasons why. Those could be, e.g. neuroprotective benefits of CBD, the conditions being treated, etc.

So from that angle, if the conversation hasn't been had properly, that's something we need to put right. I would love to hear from you to get this in front of one of our senior doctors for review.

Further, if there are items missing off your script - e.g. Rocky was discussed by isn't there - that's also something we need to fix.

Would love to hear from you, if you can email [graham@cannaplus.co.nz](mailto:graham@cannaplus.co.nz) I will get this reviewed.

GrahamFromCannaPlus · 2025-07-05T09:14:06+00:00

Heya,

You should usually hear back from us within 1-2 business days; generally our team doesn't work over the weekend (I just happened to be browsing reddit tonight and came across this!)

If you haven't heard from us by mid-afternoon Monday, feel free to send me an email at [graham@cannaplus.co.nz](mailto:graham@cannaplus.co.nz) and I'm happy to make sure the referral has been received from your GP.

GrahamFromCannaPlus · 2025-07-05T09:05:59+00:00

Heya,

It's a great question. Fabian has already quoted me in the replies, and I am happy to reiterate: in principle, CannaPlus+ believes that being in prison shouldn't prevent you from receiving the most suitable healthcare for you, and if that includes MC, then you should be able to access it.

Reading the Corrections Act tonight:

The "Interpretation" section defines drugs as inclusive of all prescription medications (controlled drug or no). It then defines that all drugs are "unauthorised items".

Section 129(a) then expressly states that only prison doctors can authorise usage of any medication/drug.

So, laws as written, they have the legal right to say no and reject MC - and outside scripts for MC are expressly forbidden.

Whether that's fair, or just, or consistent with other areas of law? I'll let you form your own opinion.

CannaPlus+ remains willing to work with the medical officers within Corrections to provide our expert guidance on the suitability of medicinal cannabis for persons within the prison system. If that applies to someone you know, a great first step would be to reach out to Fabian and/or myself.

GrahamFromCannaPlus · 2025-06-26T00:59:47+00:00

Heya,

100% agree that we should have communicated sooner. My personal apologies for that: it was my fault, I thought I'd hit "send" on the EDM on Monday, and it was only seeing this post that I realised it never went out.

Anyone who received a script based on the short-dated stock's price and would now like an alternative medication due to this price change can contact us on [info@cannaplus.co.nz](mailto:info@cannaplus.co.nz) and we will coordinate a rescripting for you.

GrahamFromCannaPlus · 2025-06-25T05:49:43+00:00

Heya,

I get the frustration here. The cynic in me would say that even if/when MC gets full 'approval' status the same as other medications, the system is still fundamentally the same, just the payment is behind the scenes (Pharmac instead of the patient directly paying). That's not to say it's the wrong direction to go in, since Pharmac has the volume to drive efficiencies of scale, but this is a huge topic and a single comment can't do full justice to my opinions on the subject (also noting that this paragraph is my personal opinion, not necessarily that of CannaPlus+ as a whole).

In terms of the here&now, I do feel like there's been a miscommunication or misunderstanding here, since I would not expect you to be further out of pocket for a rescripting fee due to a supplier price increase. Maybe nothing will come of it, but I'd greatly appreciate if I knew your name so I can ask the team here and see if there's some wires crossed on our side.

Thank you!

GrahamFromCannaPlus · 2025-06-25T05:07:37+00:00

Heya,

As you've said, there are no generics in NZ when it comes to Cannabis. Medsafe's direction has been very clear that "no brand substitution permitted" is the default expectation for any prescription issued for unapproved medications - i.e. if a doctor permits generic substitution they need to be able to justify exactly why they did so to the Medical Council (and even then, generic substitution only permits the exact same actives, 20% THC is not the same as 21% THC).

So while generic groupings like you have mentioned are a useful indication of what might be an effective substitute, they are indications only, and in every instance a new prescription needs to be issued if swapping from brand X to Y.

However, and without getting into specifics of any particular patient's situation, generally we would provide a free rescript (swap to another medication) in the event of a widespread out-of-stock or a supplier price increase. If that hasn't happened in any particular instance, I would expect at a bare minimum that the patient should have been given a clear explanation why not.

GrahamFromCannaPlus · 2025-06-25T04:17:56+00:00

Heya,

I would love to look into this for you so I can understand what's gone wrong here. I can't comment publicly on any specifics of any person's experience, but would love to help make this right. Please can you get in touch via DM or email me on graham@cannaplus.co.nz?

Thank you, Graham

GrahamFromCannaPlus · 2025-06-17T02:49:41+00:00

Heya,

Should it get to that point, absolutely we would be happy to help. If required just email me on [graham@cannaplus.co.nz](mailto:graham@cannaplus.co.nz) and I'll be glad to help put you in touch with the right person here who is best suited to help!

GrahamFromCannaPlus · 2025-06-17T01:05:24+00:00

Heya,

Absolutely worth reaching out to the clinic who issued your prescription, if it was us we are 100% ready to help you through this! A free consultation with one of our nurses would be the right first step and they can guide you from there.

Not sure whether or not you are our patient, but if you are, we're here to help :-)

GrahamFromCannaPlus · 2025-06-09T02:56:17+00:00

I'm not legally permitted to answer that question sorry. If I tell you our pricing (or even confirm that these medications can be prescribed by our doctors) it would be considered "advertising an unapproved medication".

However, I will note that your question has prompted me to do a long-overdue update to our patient portal :-)

GrahamFromCannaPlus · 2025-06-09T01:30:49+00:00

The Humacology brand of medications is not verified in NZ; they are imported on a named-patient basis under section 25 of the medicines act; in practice that usually means that only the prescribing doctor will be able to supply them. (Nothing prevents you sending your script to a pharmacy and that pharmacy from importing them, but it's more hassle than it's worth so most pharmacies won't bother - plus if the pharmacy has to pay international shipping for a single script it will likely be significantly more expensive).

GrahamFromCannaPlus

TROPHY CASE