According to a Drug Foundation Report, there’s only 6 percent of people who consume cannabis for medicinal purposes acquire and possess the drug in legal means. With this said, it’s objective to conclude that there are 250,000 individuals who utilize cannabis for medical purposes through the black market.
The source of the statistical figure provided above is a public survey from the Ministry of Health. The participants of the survey are individuals who utilize dry herb cannabis for medical purposes, and people who consume medicinal-type of cannabis items, with the likes of CBD and THC oil. Medicinal-type products of cannabis are manufactured from the black market.
According to Drug Foundation policy director, Kali Mercier, a reason why many people utilize the black market in acquiring cannabis items is because cannabis used for legal medical purposes is more costly to purchase.
Cannabis used legally as remedies for certain health conditions can be purchased at a couple of hundred dollars, on a monthly basis. This amount can be greater, varying upon on each individual’s health condition. Many people who have the need to use cannabis as health remedies are able to do so under certain benefits, and can’t afford to shoulder the purchasing costs themselves.
Mercier shares that many people are using the black market as a source for medicinal cannabis items as the other forms of cannabis for health remedies are not legalized. On February 4 earlier this year, two more cannabis items have gotten the official approval from the Ministry of Health. Thus, this milestone produces a total number of legal cannabis items to 10.
Individuals who distribute cannabis through illegal means are, at times, known as ‘green fairies’. According to a green fairy named Shane Mark, people like him can distribute cannabis for substantially lesser prices. Rich people are the only individuals who are allegedly able to afford to purchase cannabis legally available in the market. Getting prescriptions for cannabis intake from doctors can be very costly, as well.
The government doesn’t provide public funding for the distribution of cannabis items. A pharmacist in Hamilton, NZ, James Yu, shares that due to the New Zealand medicinal items being available in the market, their prices have decreased in certain places where they are sold. The prices of medicinal cannabis items, though, may differ, in accordance to the pharmacy that sells them. Yu shares that such a situation is the case due to each pharmacy having the ability to come up with profit margins for their businesses by themselves.
