46% Yes in Cannabis referendum – what a glorious day for progress!

By
Martyn Bradbury
-
58
2421

Oh you lovely funny people you! 46% of you said that the current prohibition is so flawed legalisation is the answer, this is a momentous day for cannabis reform!

Comrades – when you consider the enormous disinformation campaign funded by the American religious right – 46% is fantastic – this is enormous progress! I honestly thought their lies would see us with a result in the 30s!

We need to win 67% of the specials to win!

We can do this!!!!!

Hand on heart so excited & happy with my fellow Kiwis who said prohibition is wrong – everything changes after such an enormous percentage of NZ supporting change.

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Parliament can not sit on their hands and allow the worst example of the tyranny of the majority to continue to influence cannabis law.

51% of the country can’t criminalise the other 49%, Parliament must immediately decriminalise and put in a  private members bill for full legalisation.

Many respects to Chloe, The Hemp Store, Nandor, Chris Fowlie, NORML, Russel Brown, Helen Clarke and the NZ Drug foundation for getting us to this momentous position – we await the specials in anticipation only because of your mahi.

What a pity that the ‘freedom’ Party ACT seem to think freedom extends only to owning semi automatic rifles for you, your infant and your pet rather than cannabis reform. David Seymour should apologise to Chloe for leaving her to carry the entire debate herself.

Today is for all those hundreds of thousands of Kiwis throughout history who have been penalised by this vile and spiteful law.

Are we really going to be a people who says you can end your life if you are in terminal pain, but we won’t let you smoke a joint for that same terminal pain?

Are we?

 

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58 COMMENTS

  1. I’m wondering how many of those 50 whatever percent now trot along to the pub and get sloshed, go out to dinner with bottles of champers, go home to their beersies and bedtime ‘medicinal’ spirits. Bah!

    Still living in the time of arbitrary prohibition.

  2. Even though none of the referendums in NZ are binding, I fully expect Jacinda/labour to NOT decriminalise based on this result. Unhappy days.

  3. I like to think we are mature and progressive enough to get Cannabis for personal use out into the open. Personally I hope it becomes a reality after special votes are counted.

    As for euthanasia, I couldn’t bring myself to vote in favour of it. NZ’s record for palliative pain care is very good.

  4. I am not too optimistic that specials will swing so far to an even balance. For now it’s a 7% gap, closing that to less than 5% would be more likely (48% to 52% say). Which would hopefully make it easier to start a revised (decriminalization?) bill through parliament. Green MPs surely cannot agree to supporting Labour if they don’t at least get a committee fielding public submissions on cannabis law reform (preferably including Swarbrick)? Maybe the NZMA can get its opinions in order then too.
    The revenue from legalization would have been useful in skirting Labour’s unwillingness to be seen to increase taxes though. Decriminalization may be a politically expedient solution, if it goes to a conscience vote.

  5. My lad voted NO. FUCK! blew my mind, why, if its legal the Government will not only tax it, but also control its potency.

  6. Oops my son he voted no, why i asked, he is a daily smoker. The Government will tax it and regulate its T.H.C. LEVEL.

  7. I am curious about why the religious right could have such influence on the cannabis but not the Euthanasia referendum?

    • The religious right used emotional prodding and fear techniques to swing the vote – maybe that only works one issue at a time ?

      Or put another way, the focus on marijuana took the hear of the euthanasia vote

      • Aaron. We the people have been duped again by the government.

        Two referenda held at the same time was ridiculous.

        One referendum held at the same time as the general election was a non- smart, or smart idea, depending on where you’re coming from. Two was barmy.

        At the time of the anti-smacking referendum, PM Clark’s govt made the decision not to hold a referendum at the same time as the election, because it could confuse people.
        This govt made the decision to look at doubly confusing us.

        The wording of the parental violence referendum, was itself, extremely confusing. Who knows why ?

        Similarly, the structure and wording of the euthanasia petition ( I have long supported End of Life Choice ) , was, I thought, second rate.

        I’ve not thought much about why the far right, especially , seemingly, red-neck America’s right , poured money into influencing the choice of New Zealand citizens re recreational marijuana, but have one or two ideas. Usually money.

        The same group espousing euthanasia may be a way of addressing the global issue of a burgeoning population of elderly people, often living well beyond previous life spans, and an economic burden to the tax payer. The Inuit may place us, consenting onto ice floes, when it is felt that our time to leave has come; that’s a cultural thing – and there’s not that many handy ice floes here, and indeed, they are in decline elsewhere also. Different solutions.

        Yo

  8. Copied and Pasted from interest.co.nz:

    Little said: “The Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill will not be introduced as legislation by the Labour Government this term.

    “Subject to the release of the final results on 6 November, the incoming government will respect the result of both referendums. This will mean that recreational cannabis use will remain illegal in New Zealand…

    “We have no other plans in terms of drug law reform. We’ve done some reform in the last term of government – changes to the Misuse of Drugs Act and an encouragement to the police to take a health-based approach rather than a punitive approach.

    “We’ll continue down that path, but there are no other plans that we have for broader law reform.”

  9. I want to see the demographic breakdown. Who are all these people voting against? I don’t think I know a single person aged 20-60 who hasn’t tried it at least once.

  10. I want to see a demographic breakdown. Who are all these people voting against? I don’t know a single person aged under 60 who hasn’t tried it at least once.

  12. 53% of the population voted for the supply, distribution and sale of cannabis (and tax-free profits) to remain in the hands of criminal gangs. Stupid!

  13. A 49% yes vote after the specials are counted, and Little has already ruled out decriminalisation – when even the Sallies who campaigned for a no vote support this.

    The only hope for any progress for the next 3 years is the Shane Reti bill.

    Then in 2023, at best, Greens can make decriminalisation part of a support agreement.

    Hopefully they’ll again have some c2032 withe next Labour government and there will be nother referendum in 2035. With many racist boomers dead it will then pass quite easily.

  14. Look on the bright side, from a purely economic perspective, at least the money from sales stays in small town communities. Legal recreational would have created barons like with alcohol.
    Now most people around me will still buy from that local guy they know.

    On the flip side, what an embarrassing outcome for a supposedly progressive nation.

    NZ will be looking like tardsville to any progressive modern thinking people out there in the world. This lack of progressive attitudes will resonate in many peoples hearts for a very long time.

  15. Wow I was actually expecting you to write a negative article being disappointed that it didn’t pass, reading this made me feel energized. Cheers, comrade Martyn!

  17. I’m glad you’re pleased Martyn and have zeroed in on what you perceive as positives.

    I’m dirty and livid. I see this as an epic fail by the pro legalization advocates. They were in a fight for generational change that you speak of so often but didn’t even bother to turn up for the fight. It’s a devastating result.

    We’ve had decades of utter bullshit and complete hypocrisy ruling the day with cannabis and this was our one chance to finally get real and in doing so, lead the way …again. Who are the only winners? The extremely well funded offshore say nope to dope misinformation, God bothering and fearmongering crusaders who attacked our democracy, shit on another generation of young people and then celebrated their “victory”. The only other winner were the gangs and criminal enterprises who have been funding their activities for decades via drug sales.

    There is a very long list of losers.

    Where did it go wrong? Those in favour of legalization ran a low key limp noodle campaign. They never got out of the blocks and they failed to attack the misinformation crusaders.

    Only the say nope to dope people understood the significance of advertising and implanting powerful images in the minds of all the people out there that have been fed bullshit about cannabis for decades and don’t know any better.

    What were those images? Lining up 40 cannabis cigarettes in a row and suggesting Kiwis would now smoke that amount every day. If a single person smoked that amount of weed in one day they would be a fucking zombie. Older people now had an image of generations of kiwis walking around all day like zombies. Nothing was done to counter that utter shit so because it wasn’t challenged it must be true and correct. That’s also how affidavits work. Over the years, my messiest days with weed saw me smoke 7 or 8 joints. There just aren’t enough hours in the day for more unless you’re smoking cabbage instead of putting in your edibles.

    We saw powerful images of cars being involved in crashes now on their roof. This garbage was peddled exactly like it was accepted fact. It was profound and went unchallenged so it must be accepted fact. Where were these people when alcohol was been suggested for sale in all our supermarkets?

    The yes campaign had the lead early on but sat on their hands while the nope to dope crusaders waged war and overtook them. By the time yes campaigners finally “woke” from their slumber, the battle was lost. When their adds appeared, they were ineffective. They took a butter knife to a gunfight and let down a great many people.

    NZ is now stuck with the raging hypocrisy of our archaic cannabis laws and there isn’t a fucking thing we can do about it.

    Generational change my arse.

  18. So we cant give our elderly homegrown pain relief…cannabis products

    We have to go to a doctor for painkillers and pay through the nose

    …to get a BIG PHARMA opioid product which will kill them off (possibly after addiction and much suffering or shockingly rather fast)

    We are allowed to help them commit euthanasia however ….possibly because of unbearable pain and suffering

  19. Personally think there is a conflict. Many in NZ want to see cannabis decriminalised but don’t want to see a massive increase in recreational drug use.

    Solution might be something like growing or consuming small amounts of cannabis be a $100 fine, like littering but can’t result in further prosecution from police.

    Growing cannabis in commercial quantities should be a bigger fine, but not able to be prosecuted under the proceeds of crimes act. That might create more advantages for drug barons to get cannabis competing with Meth, as the majority of people would agree, that Meth and stronger drugs is more dangerous to be spreading around NZ.

    Medical cannabis and growing your own plants for personal supply, if prescribed by a doctor for pain, should be legal.

    • WHY SHOULD WE HAVE TO GO TO THE BLOODY DOCTOR FOR PERMISSION?(and pay through the nose)

      …. People were using cannabis freely in the time Herodotus was talking about… in his Histories around the Mediterranean….500 BC

      The medical profession and BIG PHARMA are locked by their pockets in a cartel…they should be boycotted

      • YEA YEA

        the suggestion is better than the current status quo

        and thankyou @saveNZ for your input and consideration .

      • Better the law being a small fine, than potentially be criminalised and put in prison which is the current stupid status of Cannabis and Meth getting out of control because commercial Cannabis is an easy target for proceeds of crimes act!

        There needs to be a compromise between pro and no cannabis use in NZ and our growing drugs issues here.

      • fuck you am not feeble at all

        did i suggest any 1 be fined

        it would still be better than prosecution

        so how much of a fuckin arsehole are you seer

  20. If the popice and our media were honest about Cannabis it would have been legalized 50 years ago ,,,,

    Encouraging that 46 percent of voters could think for themselves despite decades of propaganda and fearmongering ,,,

    Nixon drug policy abuse ,,,, sticking like shit

    13 minutes 40 seconds in for the founding motives of Nopers ,,, https://youtu.be/RKgyOOU8moc ,,,although I recommend watching the whole thing as its informative and entertaining

    • it would have been legalized 50 years ago

      50 years ago the National Military Service Act 1961 still applied. (Kirk ended it in ’72.)
      50 years ago we still had troops in Vietnam. (They were being withdrawn, gone in ’71.)
      Cannabis, and the pacifism it can induce, was not seen as a good fit by those in power.

  22. After the final vote count the case for decriminlisation is stronger than ever.
    C’mon Jacinda
    Just do it
    Keep things moving.

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