New Zealand Residents Want Cannabis Reform

A new survey proves that New Zealand voters want to reform the country’s current cannabis laws and allow for medical consumption or legalization of cannabis.

The New Zealand Drug Foundation surveyed New Zealand voters ahead of the upcoming federal election, which will occur on September 23. The results showed 65 percent favored decriminalization or legalization of cannabis.

Sixty percent of the leading party, the National Party, reported to support legalization or decriminalization. The New Zealand First Party and the Labour party both had 68 percent of voters in favor of reform. The Green Party had 92 percent of voters in favor of decriminalization or legalization.

The New Zealand Parliament is currently debating a bill that would place exemptions for medical cannabis in the Misuse of Drugs Act. Currently, cannabis is illegal in New Zealand, even though over one-tenth of residents ages 15 and over reported tohave used it at least once in the last 12 months. One third of consumers has used it weekly.

“In New Zealand we’ve always taken the view that some of these drugs cause so much harm, that they should be illegal,” said Prime Minister Bill English at a symposium earlier this year. He believes current laws work, even though cannabis was the biggest illegal drug used in the country.

Earlier this year, New Zealand removed restrictions of CBD oil. It can now be written in prescriptions by doctors, but cannot be manufactured in the country. Importation is currently the only method of obtaining cannabis legally.

“The current system is broken,” said the executive director of the New Zealand Drug Foundation, Boss Bell. “Getting a criminal conviction for possessing cannabis ruins people’s lives and creates huge downstream costs for society.” Bell believes a regulated approach will bring more education about the benefits of cannabis and its use, as well as regulate product and help availability.