The Green Party has renewed its call for evidence-based cannabis regulation, on the fifth anniversary of a referendum in which the public voted only narrowly against legalisation.
"Five years ago, 1.4 million New Zealanders voted on each side of the Cannabis Legalisation and Control Referendum. Today, the Greens continue to work for sensible, evidence-based regulation to reduce harm," says Green Party Co-Leader Chlöe Swarbrick.
"Those who campaigned against legal regulation of cannabis could not defend the harm of criminal prohibition - the best they could muster was critique of legalisation. So today we're launching an online platform for New Zealanders to tell us what they think sensible regulation could look like.
"The referendum result made it clear that the status quo was untenable, and that an ongoing, mature conversation about drug law reform was necessary.
"In the last five years, the resources and time of our Courts and Police have continued to be wasted enforcing cannabis prohibition. In the past year alone, 26 people have been imprisoned for cannabis offences as their most serious charge, and three imprisoned just for cannabis use.
"After 50 years of the war on drugs, it's clear the drugs are winning. The only way to address these issues is through sensible regulation, which means minimising the profit motive and cutting out the black market.
"This isn't a question of whether you use cannabis or even like cannabis. This is about acknowledging the reality that cannabis exists and that our laws can either increase or decrease harm. Right now, we have the worst of all worlds.
"We believe New Zealanders deserve better, and we look forward to hearing their ideas on what sensible regulation should look like," says Chlöe Swarbrick.
