I came have been advocating for the introduction of medicinal cannabis for about 4 years.

I am a solo mother of five children and my eldest daughter, 17, suffers from Dravet syndrome, a intractable, life-limiting and progressive form of epilepsy where she would seizure up to 1000 times a day.

My daughter has been on dozens of medications. She has undergone a vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) implant - one of the first in New Zealand - which was ineffective, high dosages of steroids, and other more alternative treatments such as sacral massage and naturopathic remedies.

Trials for medical marijuana should be encouraged despite "prejudice" from the medical profession, Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne says.

The debate over medical marijuana has sparked up after the Australian government announced a licensing scheme to allow the cultivation of cannabis for medical trial purposes this month.

And Mr Dunne says New Zealand was "highly likely" to follow suit if the trial products were approved.

He told TVNZ's Q + A programme it would be "very, very good" to get clinical trials in New Zealand.

"I do think there is a bit of prejudice there in the medical profession.

"At the moment we've got a lot of very general talk, we talk about medical cannabis - actually there's no such thing. There's medical cannabis products.

New Zealand could piggyback on Australian research into the wider use of medicinal cannabis, but associate minister of health Peter Dunne is cautioning people against getting their hopes up.

A judge has said he's "not blind to the debate" around medicinal cannabis in New Zealand during the sentencing of a man who used the drug to help him cope with Crohn's disease.

Peter John Crimp, 40, appeared in the Nelson District Court on Monday charged with possession of cannabis and a cannabis pipe.

The court heard that Crimp was driving on the Moutere Highway in the Redwood Valley about 7:50pm on September 19 when he was stopped by police.

While speaking to police, the officer noticed a strong smell of cannabis coming from the vehicle.

Police searched Crimp and his vehicle and found a small tin containing two grams of cannabis in his pocket and a small pipe.

A New Zealand drug support agency says naming an energy drink Cannabis is irresponsible and trivialises drug use.

The Government will not be swayed by "emotional nonsense" colouring calls for wider access to medicinal cannabis, Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne says.

The issue has hit the spotlight after outgoing Council of Trade Unions president Helen Kelly, who has terminal lung cancer, pleaded for the Government to improve access to medicinal cannabis.

Dunne told Radio NZ there was "a lot of very loose and uninformed talk" about current access to medical cannabis, which ignored the current procedures in place for those who wanted to use the drug for health reasons.

Associate Minister of Health Peter Dunne says the provisions in place for medicinal cannabis are not likely to change.

During an interview with Morning Report, he said people whose doctors felt it would be beneficial for them could already go through a process to access Sativex, the only legal cannabis-based medicine approved in New Zealand.

He said that so far only one person had done this.

"The procedure is very clear: if a person's doctors believe they would benefit from those products, then they can apply for a dispensation, like they would any other [products]."

Mr Dunne said that it was untrue that there were a variety of products available, and said the few others were available internationally were only approved in individual countries or were still undergoing trial.

OPINION: The call grows louder to relax the laws around "medicinal cannabis". Union leader Helen Kelly, who has terminal cancer, has given it new voice with her own forceful appeal to the Government.

"If a doctor says I would benefit from this, then who is Peter Dunne to decide whether I will or not?" Kelly asks.

Good question. As the law stands, Dunne, the associate health minister, must give his blessing before any cannabis-related treatment can be used on a patient in New Zealand, even the sole such drug already approved here.

He should not have this power; it should belong to doctors and medical authorities, who can decide whether a drug is safe and effective, just as they do with almost every other drug.

Terminally ill Council of Trade Unions president Helen Kelly is pleading with the Government to improve access to medicinal cannabis, as she confesses she is "a little bit scared" of dying.

Kelly, who has lung cancer, said on Monday she had exhausted all legal pain relief and had resorted to the black market to obtain cannabis oil. But she did not like putting people in an awkward position to help her.

"I've tried [cannabis oil]. I'm not promoting it as a curative, but as a pain relief it's incredibly effective for me and it doesn't make me feel sick, which morphine does."

She took the drug at night to make sure being stoned would not disrupt her day.