The majority of people would now vote to legalise recreational cannabis use, a new poll paid for by a medicinal cannabis research company indicates.

The survey of just under 2000 people conducted by Horizon Research found 54 per cent would vote "yes" in the upcoming referendum on legalising recreational cannabis use.

It also showed 45 per cent would vote against making recreational marijuana use legal.

The referendum was to take place at the same time as the general election in September, though it was not clear whether the election would be postponed as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

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The Horizon poll was the fifth in a series conducted to keep tabs on how public sentiment was tracking, paid for by New Zealand's largest medicinal cannabis company, Helius Therapeutics.

The latest survey was not exactly the same as the previous four, which allowed people to express "no opinion".

Forcing a yes or no response lifted the proportion of people who favoured legalisation from 48 per cent in November.

HARRISON CHRISTIAN/STUFF Most people do not believe cannabis prohibition is working.

In August support was recorded at 39 per cent. In April last year support was at 52 per cent, while in November 2018 it was at 60 per cent.

The polling may give insights into shifting public attitudes, but these may not necessarily reflect voting patterns, as many people choose not to vote.

In the 2017 general election just under 3.3 million people were eligible to vote, while just over 2.6m cast their vote.

Paul Manning, chief executive of Helius Therapeutics, said: "Other opinion polls are still giving people a 'don't know' or 'no opinion' option which suppresses the numbers and allows people to sit on the fence – a luxury they won't have in the ballot booth."

He said there was general acceptance that polls on this issue would continue to move around, but this was the first time since November 2018, in this series of tracking polls, a majority of all age groups between 18 and 64 years said they would vote for legalisation and control.

But, he said: "It's too early to call which way this will land."

There was strong agreement that current cannabis controls simply weren't working.

Manning said 83 per cent of people polled didn't believe the prohibition of personal cannabis use was working, and 72 per cent said having controls for growing and selling cannabis for personal use would be better for society.

There was only a small minority- 14 per cent- who felt that current cannabis controls were working.

"Support has climbed back up over the past six months," Manning said.

"Kiwis have clearly spoken. They are unified in their belief that prohibition is failing, and controls would be preferable," he said.

SUPPLIED "Kiwis have clearly spoken. They are unified in their belief that prohibition is failing, and controls would be preferable," said Paul Manning, chief executive of Helius Therapeutics.

But, he said: "This survey also highlights a real paradox. Older and conservative Kiwis, in particular, openly accept cannabis is widely available and controls would be better, but they don't want a bar of the referendum which would trigger the Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill. It begs the question, what do they want?"

The breakdown by party vote shows a big tribal divide between National and Labour voters.

Only 27 per cent of National voters would vote yes in a referendum. That compared to 64 per cent of Labour voters, and 78 per cent of Green voters.

By contrast 46 per cent of NZ First voters favoured legalisation, along with 45 per cent of ACT voters favoured legalisation

Manning said tax on recreational cannabis products could help repair falling tax revenues.

"Our Parliament has just approved a $52 billion funding envelope for the current crisis. However, with the tax take falling, accessing new revenue sources will be more important than ever," he said.

"The prospect of our Government taking control of the black market and redirecting revenue back into the health sector, looks increasingly attractive."