Customs has confirmed the long-standing legality of entering New Zealand with prescribed medicinal cannabis products.

On Wednesday, New Zealand Customs communications advisor Prasheeta Ram Taki confirmed the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 has an exemption for people entering the country with up to one month's supply of a controlled drug provided it has been legally prescribed for their own use.

"Customs has not changed its position, however, it is working with the Ministry of Health and Police to ensure that any exemptions are applied in appropriate circumstances," she said.

She said customs officers will seize cannabis at the border when they are not satisfied that the cannabis has been lawfully supplied for the purpose of treating a medical condition.

The issue of medicinal cannabis is back in the spotlight and the question of whether Kiwis should or shouldn't have access to it.

It's been revealed in the past few weeks that both Martin Crowe and Sir Paul Holmes used marijuana before they died and the call to legalise it here is gaining momentum.

Across the ditch in Australia, they have just passed a law to begin clinical trials of medicinal cannabis so where does that leave us here in New Zealand and how will people get hold of the medicinal version of the drug?

Story met one woman whose brush with the law led to a discovery of a loophole which could mean more Kiwis getting hold of medicinal cannabis legally.

For once, there’s a bigger problem in New Zealand than its flag being confused with Australia’s: a chronic shortage of marijuana.

The “catastrophic” situation was first reported on by Don Rowe, a staff writer at The Spinoff, who wrote that New Zealand’s most popular illegal substance was “almost unobtainable in any meaningful amount right now”.

“Blame it on the police, the gangs, the weather or just the grow cycle of your average cannabis harvest; no matter which way you slice it, it’s dry out there.”

A "loophole" law allowing patients to import medicinal marijuana into New Zealand will not be changed, according to Associate Health Minster Peter Dunne.

The loophole means anyone entering the country can lawfully carry with them a one-month supply of medicinal cannabis or cannabis-related product, as long as it was legally prescribed by a medical practitioner overseas.

Dunne confirmed that it was "potentially possible" to bring a medicinal cannabis product prescribed overseas for their own use for a maximum of one month, without repeat.

"That has been in the law for over 40 years, and applies to all medicinal products, not just cannabis related products," he said.

Currently, the New Zealand cannabis industry is worth millions of dollars per year and is totally unregulated due to the legal status of cannabis. This has led to all sale and distribution being controlled by career criminals who have no ethics when it comes to selling this product to children or trying to push harder damaging drugs to their customers.

It is also causing many ill people in this country to suffer unnecessarily.

Our government bought into the "war on drugs", started in the US.

There are 2 main areas of regulation to be considered, in relation to cannabis, which are medicinal and recreational.

Medicinal Cannabis

Broadcaster Sir Paul Holmes turned to marijuana for pain relief in the weeks before he died, his widow has revealed. 

Holmes died in 2013, after battling heart problems and the return of prostate cancer. 

His name joins those of other well-known New Zealanders who have lent support to the cause. 

Lady Deborah Holmes told NZME. Paul was not a drug user but "in the final weeks it was the one thing that could give him peace and comfort".

He was allergic to morphine and the alternative concoction of drugs "sent him off to la la land", she said.

He smoked the drug, as the couple was unaware of cannabis oil. 

A law change in Australia means New Zealanders can now legally be prescribed a month's medicinal cannabis there and bring it back to this country, a legal commentator says.

A Golden Bay woman has escaped a lengthy jail term for importing cannabis products after a judge discharged her without conviction, because it was prescribed overseas.

Rebecca Reider - who has complex chronic pain syndrome - was facing charges for possession and importing of cannabis oil and other products after she was discovered posting chocolate bars with edible cannabis to herself.

Her lawyer, Sue Grey argued because Ms Reider was lawfully prescribed drugs while visiting overseas and the quantity was no more than one month's supply to treat a medical condition, it should have been legal.

Helen Kelly, former president of the Council of Trade Unions, revealed last May that she was terminally ill with lung cancer (she has never smoked). In October, days before stepping down from her post, she went public with the fact that she was treating herself with cannabis oil.

"I was going on [TV current affairs show] The Nation anyway to talk about my health," Kelly explained to VICE. "And it was a really interesting drug that was making a big difference to my health. If I was going to get it illegally and it was all going to be fine for me, I thought, well there's other people it won't be fine for. You've got to put these things out in the open."

New Zealand should grow medicinal cannabis because of its potentially good returns, a Massey University scientist says.

Dr Mike Nichols, who has also researched hemp growing, said New Zealand risked losing out on a profitable industry, in the same way it once turned down the chance to grow poppies for legal codeine and morphine.

Even though New Zealand scientist Ralph Ballinger was the world's lead researcher into poppy growing in the 1950s, his work never resulted in an industry.

A Nelson District Court judge struggled to find an appropriate sentence for a woman who cultivated cannabis to help treat her multiple sclerosis.

Fiona Porter, 45, told the court on Monday that she grew cannabis for personal medicinal use after medication prescribed to treat her multiple sclerosis left her unable to see, walk or speak properly at times.

Police found 11 mature cannabis plants growing among tomatoes and corn at her Takaka home on February 9.

Porter told police that she blended leaves from the plants and consumed them.

Choosing to appear without legal representation, Porter explained to judge Peter Hobbs that she gave up growing cannabis in 2011 after being reprimanded by the court.