The proposed model

The exact legislation is still to be drafted, but the government has confirmed that it will include:

A minimum age of 20 to use and purchase recreational cannabis,

Regulations and commercial supply controls,

Limited home-growing options,

A public education programme and stakeholder engagement.

A government Cabinet paper suggests the coalition may propose a system of commercial cultivation as well as the production of concentrates and cannabis-infused products. Authorised products would then be sold in government-licensed stores, although online sales would not be permitted. The paper suggests that home-grow and personal production of infused products will be an option, although the government may prevent domestic concentrate manufacturing on the grounds of safety.

However none of this is set in stone, as the government will consult with a range of stakeholders before publishing the draft legislation mid-2020 at the earliest. It’s also yet to be decided whether New Zealand’s existing medical cannabis programme would operate in parallel with the recreational, or whether a single framework would be introduced to regulate both.

Indications for a positive outcome

As well as offering far greater certainty as to what is being voted on, New Zealand’s poll looks set to be much less contentious than the UK’s EU referendum. Polling from January 2019 suggested that 60 percent of New Zealanders would currently vote in favour of legalising recreational cannabis, with just 24 percent opposed. 63 percent also gave support for a regulated legal cannabis market with licensed producers.

Support therefore clearly extends beyond active users, with an estimated 12 percent of New Zealand adults consuming cannabis at least once a year. This figure rises to 26 percent within the Maori population, who are also disproportionately likely to be both taken to court and given a jail sentence for cannabis possession. A 2018 report by the NZ Drug Foundation suggests that cannabis legalisation and regulation could reduce the country’s criminal justice costs, deliver tax revenues of up to NZD $240m a year, and can improve healthcare outcomes if coupled with public service investment.

If passed, New Zealand could become the third country in the world to legalise recreational cannabis after Uruguay and Canada. However, two other countries are also in the offing for this title: Luxembourg, which has pledged to legalise cannabis before the next election in 2023, and Mexico, where the Supreme Court has ruled cannabis prohibition unconstitutional and given lawmakers an October deadline to introduce alternative legislation. Whoever eventually gains the bronze medal, it is clear that momentum for legalisation is slowly gathering across the globe.

For more insights and advice in international cannabis policy developments, please get in touch at info@hanwayassociates.com.