Associate Health Minister David Seymour said many New Zealanders had asked why they could purchase the medication from overseas but not their local pharmacy.
“Medsafe has assessed this and decided there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be available on pharmacy shelves right here at home,” Seymour said.
“In time, adults will be able to buy melatonin directly from a pharmacy with no prescription needed. This is a common sense decision that will make melatonin more accessible in New Zealand than in many other countries and encourage suppliers to bring more products to our shelves.”
The medication will remain prescription-only for children and adolescents, after clinical advice that greater oversight was needed in younger patients.
Melatonin can sometimes be prescribed to children with neurodevelopment disorders who struggle to sleep and have not responded to other treatments.
A date has not yet been set for when the medication will be available in pharmacies. Seymour said that would depend on when manufacturers applied to have their drugs approved in New Zealand.
He hoped this would happen quickly now that restrictions had been eased.
Melatonin is a hormone produced in the brain which helps regulate the body’s sleep cycle and can be taken as a supplement.
New Zealanders who use it regularly pay about $30 a month to renew their prescriptions.
Some have resorted to ordering melatonin from overseas websites based in countries where it is more readily available.
That is not always successful as it can be seized by Customs.
The Best Practice Advocacy Centre NZ said there was evidence that melatonin reduced the time it took to fall asleep for some patients. However, there was limited data on its effectiveness in treating insomnia in people under 55 years old, reducing jet lag or improving sleep for shift workers.
Seymour also announced today that Medsafe had approved medicinal psilocybin outside of clinical trials for the first time.
Psilocybin – a psychedelic compound found in mushrooms – was still an unapproved medicine, but approval has now been granted for an experienced psychiatrist to prescribe it for patients with treatment-resistant depression.
“This is huge for people with depression who’ve tried everything else and are still suffering,” Seymour said.
“If a doctor believes psilocybin can help, they should have the tools to try.
“The psychiatrist involved has previously prescribed psilocybin in clinical trials and will operate under strict reporting and record-keeping requirements.”
Other psychiatrists would also be able to apply to Medsafe to be granted authority to prescribe psilocybin.
Medical interest in psychedelic therapy is growing and some New Zealand researchers have been trialling MDMA and mushrooms for patients with clinical depression.
In 2023, Australian authorities reclassified MDMA and psilocybin for prescription by approved psychiatrists.
Professor Suresh Muthukumaraswamy, from the School of Pharmacy at the University of Auckland, said the changes announced today better aligned New Zealand with Australia.
”The major issue though is that psilocybin will be prescribed alongside intensive psychotherapy which is expensive," he said. “Hence access to this therapy will be limited until complementary funding mechanisms are put in place.”
Two years ago, the first license was granted for a company to grow an indigenous magic mushroom in Tairāwhiti. The biopharmaceutical company, Rua Bioscience, hoped to be able to use the medication to treat patients with methamphetamine addiction.
Isaac Davison is a senior reporter who covers Auckland issues. He joined the Herald in 2008 and has previously covered the environment, politics, social issues, and healthcare.
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