Associate Minister of Health Peter Dunne says he is satisfied with the current approval process for medical cannabis products, despite a multiple sclerosis sufferer being forced to wait five months to get access to the drug.

Regarding Huhana Hickey's delay, he said "it appears that most of the issues here are between the purchaser and the supply company."

In October, Dr Hickey was given permission by Mr Dunne to use Tilray to help with her multiple sclerosis pain.

An application was then made to import the drug and the permit arrived in December.

But Dr Hickey's not expected to have the medicine for at least another three weeks.

"It's the Ministry of Health, it's the requirements they have, the import license, all the legalities around it, the bureaucracy has actually held it up," Dr Hickey told 1 NEWS.

Tilray costs about $600 a month and another $3000 to get the drug into the country.



"What worries me is that this is going to be a regular occurrence every three months when I make a new application," she said.