Margin Narrows On Referendum Result: A Clear Mandate For Change – The Drug Foundation
“Based on how close the result is, a change to cannabis/ drug law should not be ruled out,” said Tuari Potiki, Chair of the Drug Foundation.
“While the Drug Foundation accepts that the Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill is now unlikely to be put forward to Parliament in its current form, the Government has a responsibility to find a fix to our broken drug law.”
“The close result shows an unprecedented level of support for change in some form. Doing nothing is not an option for the Government.”
The final cannabis referendum result was released today with 48.4% of New Zealanders voting in favour of legalisation, and 50.7% against. The margin closed from 7% to 2.3% in the final count. 1,406,973 people voted for the specific set of regulations in the proposed bill, while 1,474,635 voted against.
“The issues that make reform essential have not simply disappeared now the votes are cast. The Government must find out what New Zealanders’ key concerns were in voting no, and come back with proposed legislation that will address the issues we all agree on”.
“The last minute swing towards a yes vote strongly suggests that young people and Māori – two of the biggest yes voting groups – came out in force in the last days in favour of a piece of law that directly affects them more than anyone.
“It’s sobering that a piece of law that could so positively improve criminal justice outcomes has been voted down on such a narrow margin. Those who would have particularly benefited are young people, Māori and medicinal cannabis patients. Yet people who are not directly affected by the outcome held sway,” Potiki said.
“We’ve heard from so many whānau who are distraught after hearing the preliminary result last week, many of whom have personally faced conviction for their cannabis use.”
“The problems caused by prohibition will not disappear by themselves. We cannot stand back and ignore those who carry the greatest burden of the current punitive approach. The Government has a responsibility to find a way forward that honours their experiences.”
The Drug Foundation favours a Government response that keeps legalisation of cannabis on the table in some form. In addition, we note the strong mandate for decriminalisation that has been evident in public debates on the referendum: even those who campaigned for a ‘no’ vote publicly accepted that cannabis use should be treated as a health and social issue, and decriminalised.
“Within six months we believe government should take steps to end criminal penalties for those who use cannabis and other drugs, and for those who grow small quantities of cannabis at home for personal use,” Potiki said.
We can only dream of it because nothing is going to happen for drug reform.
If they do anything, Labour will be attacked from the opposition and the media.
NZ has to many sheep that listen to the news, talk back radio and believe what they hear without going out and doing their own research. You will see DRUG DRIVER like we have done for the last 8 months. Front page news saying how someone had CANNABIS, alcohol, methamphetamine, horse tranquilizers and proscription medicine in their system, See Cannabis caused it!
We know the outcome –> NZ voted against Drug reform but this government went against the majority and reformed it anyway and now look what happened! .
Look at how good the no campaign used fear and misinformation to win the referendum, they convinced and helped the the majority of 55+ voting block to vote against this reform bill, 98% of this block votes. In this election their was a good reason for the 35 and below to come out and vote, but a huge chunk of them didn’t. Next election there will be even less reason for this block of voters to vote.
Doing nothing will be seen as the only option for the Ardern government and that is what we will get. Don’t be surprised if “Tough on drug crime” pops it’s ugly head up this term. Gotta keep them Nat votes for next election. Next year they start random roadside drug testing, That’s going to be fun. They are not testing for impairment just traces of drugs in your system. Madness!
But It really doesn’t need to be this way. There so many options.
Start by having drug education in school from intermediate and up, Not reefer madness bullshit but prove scientifically why Drugs are bad for a growing mind. Include the parents also.
Justice system.
It cost around $1,200 a week to keep someone in the corrections system where they learn to become better criminals, they are place in a bad situation at the worst time. How can you reform somebody by placing them in a place where everybody feels the same way. Young minds need a purpose.
Start a program where 20 and below offenders are offered a choice, Do a 12 week training course run by the military or serve your sentence in the corrections system. $1200 a week goes along way towards training and counseling. Give these young minds purpose and skills, don’t just teach them how to be better offenders. Show them there is hope instead of putting them into the hopeless so called correction system.
There are so many things that could be done, but they won’t. The main objective of this government this term is next term, Nothing else.