Tag: New Zealand

Cannabis reform supporters across the globe had huge hopes in 2020 that New Zealand would legalize cannabis for adult use via a measure that was placed on the ballot by lawmakers.

Only two countries had legalized cannabis for adult use prior to the 2020 election in New Zealand (Uruguay and Canada), and with legalization stalling in Mexico, New Zealand was poised to become the third country to legalize.

Unfortunately, voters in New Zealand struck down the legalization measure, and cannabis prohibition remained in place. It was a lost opportunity for sure, but still a significant milestone with voters at least getting a chance to weigh in.

With legalization off the table in New Zealand for now, the focus amongst some activists shifted to decriminalizing cannabis, which does not seem to have the support of New Zealand’s government.

No Government Plans For Decriminalization

The bad news is that New Zealand’s Justice Minister Kris Faafoi made it clear that the government has no current plans to decriminalize cannabis right now.

However, the good news is that the Justice Minister also stated that his party would not oppose MPs voting for a decriminalization measure if it was part of a legislative measure.

With all of that being said, it’s not likely that a decriminalization measure will be introduced any time soon. It’s unlikely that a Labour Party member will introduce a bill because the party has made it clear that its position is ‘to respect the vote’ from 2020.

It is also unlikely that a Green Party member will introduce a decriminalization measure because the party clearly wants full legalization to happen as soon as possible, which is why it pushed the 2020 legalization measure.

Support For Decriminalization Is Significant

A poll was recently conducted by Labour Party pollster UMR for the Helen Clark Foundation. The poll found that 49% of respondents supported adult-use cannabis legalization, which is similar to other polls released prior to the 2020 legalization vote.

While 49% is obviously not a majority, let alone a super-majority, when the support for legalization is combined with decriminalization the number jumps to 69%.

A cannabis decriminalization referendum is not politically viable from a political will standpoint for whatever reason, however, a decriminalization measure is clearly popular among constituents and that’s something that lawmakers in New Zealand need to take note of.

Legalization will always be better than decriminalization, but decriminalization will always be better than criminalization. Currently possessing a personal amount of cannabis carries a potential fine of $500 and up to 3 months in jail in New Zealand.

2020 is an election year in various countries across the globe, including in New Zealand. This year’s election in New Zealand was of particular interest to cannabis observers due to the fact that there was a cannabis legalization measure on the ballot.

Only two countries have legalized cannabis for adult use so far, Uruguay and Canada, and both of them legalized via the legislative process versus letting voters decide the issue directly.

The vote, which was referred to voters by New Zealand lawmakers, was originally scheduled to occur in September, however, due to a spike in Covid cases the election was postponed until October 17th.

In New Zealand, the results for referendum measures take longer to release to the public versus results for candidate races. With that in mind, cannabis enthusiasts had to wait a couple of weeks before learning the outcome of the vote in New Zealand.

Unfortunately, when the results were finally released they were not favorable. Per The New York Times:

New Zealand will join a small number of countries that have legalized euthanasia after its citizens voted overwhelmingly in favor of it in a referendum this month.

A second question on the ballot during the Oct. 17 general election — on legalizing recreational marijuana use — was set to fail, according to preliminary results released on Friday.

Proponents of the cannabis measure expressed frustration with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who had declined to take a position on legalization before the election and revealed only on Friday that she had voted in support of it.

Cannabis activists across the globe were hopeful that New Zealand would become the third country to legalize cannabis for adult use, but that will apparently have to wait. It’s unclear if/when New Zealand will try to vote on legalization again.

The focus of the international cannabis community will now likely move back to Mexico, where lawmakers are working to pass a legalization measure before the end of the year to fully implement a previous Supreme Court decision which ruled that Mexico’s cannabis prohibition policy was unconstitutional.

New Zealand could become the third country to legalize cannabis for adult use. Currently, cannabis is legal for adult use in Uruguay and Canada, and New Zealand could join that list if voters approve a legalization measure this month.

Election Day is technically on October 17th in New Zealand, although early voting is already underway. The election was originally scheduled for last month but was delayed due to a coronavirus outbreak.

Only time will tell if the measure ultimately passes, however, a study was recently conducted that sheds some light on the level of support for the measure, at least on social media.

Twitter is an extremely popular social media platform that is often harnessed for political purposes. Whether it’s by an official campaign or just a single voter, many New Zealand-focus tweets have involved the legalization measure.

A coalition of researchers based in Australia, the United States, and New Zealand examined Twitter data to gauge the level of support and opposition for New Zealand’s cannabis legalization measure.

Specifically, the researchers “conducted a sentiment analysis of all historic cannabis‐related tweets and referendum‐specific tweets written in New Zealand.”

The researchers didn’t just look at the data in recent months. They went all the way back to July 2009 and identified 304,760 tweets about cannabis legalization and New Zealand.

“Overall, the tweets were predominantly positive (62.0%) and there was a higher proportion of positive tweets written in 2020 (65.3%) compared to negative or neutral tweets. Similarly, for referendum‐specific tweets, the 2020 data reveal a generally positive view of cannabis (53.5%).” researchers concluded.

Twitter is obviously not the same as the ballot box.

For the sake of those that were harmed by cannabis prohibition in New Zealand, and countless others that are at risk of prosecution because of their cannabis use, hopefully voters approve the measure and get New Zealand on the right side of history.

The world will find out soon enough!

The topic of recreational cannabis reform is absolutely atop the country’s election debate as New Zealand stares down its own national elections on October 17. Originally scheduled to take place on September 19 but delayed because of COVID, the vote for rec reform is not expected to be successful.

The majority of New Zealanders do want to see more medical reform, and the topic is likely to be a big issue going forward, particularly, if as expected, the recreational reform campaign fails at the ballot box. The country, like many others, is now beginning to quantify and structure its medical industry. That said, a full-boat “Canadian” if not U.S. state style cannabiz appears to be just a bit too forward for the Kiwis this year. And if it fails, the topic is also likely to get booted down the political pike for several years, at least.

The topic of recreational reform, however, is still enough of a political bug bear that defending Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was forced to admit recreational use “a long time ago” in her most recent televised debate against her opponent. She has so far refused to say how she will vote on recreational reform herself.

Is Recreational Taking A Breather?

Canna history is likely to show that 2020 was clearly a transitional year for the entire industry, globally, but recreational was far from the top of the agenda just about anywhere.

There are reasons for this apart from bureaucratic decisions that are still far removed from science.

The UN is likely to reset the entire debate about the plant itself as of the end of the year – no matter what it decides.

From that point on, other countries (see Luxembourg) are likely to take the ball forward, but only against a medical discussion that first and foremost recognizes the plant and its extracts as at minimum a kind of superfood if not wonder drug.

2021 is likely to see a restart of the discussion across Europe, particularly given what has happened here so far, particularly with a greater interest in hemp and extracts as a way forward to wellness, beyond a visit to the doctor.

For the latest on industry trends be sure to attend the International Cannabis Business Conference when it returns to Europe next year.