Former union boss Helen Kelly has written to Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne seeking permission to use medicinal cannabis.
Ms Kelly, who has lung cancer, hopes her application will be granted as soon as possible.
She is already using cannabis oil to ease her pain.
Patients can apply to the Ministry of Health to get access to one form of medical cannabis, Sativex, which has been cleared for use in New Zealand.
However Ms Kelly is seeking approval for a non-pharmaceutical-grade cannabis which does not have approval.
It has a stricter approval criteria which requires the patient to be very ill or dying and in hospital when the treatment begins.
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