Moves to make it easier for patients to get cannabis-based medication for pain relief or symptom control have been welcomed by Northland's medical marijuana campaigners.

However, some say the change doesn't go far enough or do anything to help patients to pay for medical cannabis.

Last week Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne announced that people who wanted to use non-pharmaceutical cannabis products, which are made from cannabis but with less rigorous standards than those applied to pharmaceuticals, no longer need to get approval from the Minister of Heath.

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