It's believed around 10,000 New Zealanders are illegally using marijuana for medicinal purposes.

The Government is tipped to loosen the rules around access to medicinal cannabis.

Medical Cannabis Awareness New Zealand coordinator Shane Le Brun told Rachel Smalley he's expecting a token announcement that will help. But he said sadly, it won't be a big enough move.

"The patients are suffering. They need more movement in the here and now. From National's perspective, it's election year, they've dropped a Prime Minister, so it's an opportunity to change their stance because they were very behind public opinion on the issue."

Le Brun said despite it being illegal, their charity is inundated with requests of how to find cannabis. But he said even if it's made legal, Pharmac won't want to fund it because compared to more traditional painkillers, it will be too expensive.

Mr Le Brun said methadone is $20-30 a month, whereas covering something like Sativex would be around $900.

He said the blackmarket will continue until serious changes are made.

LISTEN ABOVE AS SHANE LE BRUN SPEAKS WITH RACHEL SMALLEY