Nationwide poll shows majority want cannabis laws relaxed

A recent cannabis poll has found most people want to see a relaxation of laws regarding the drug. Photo / NZME

A recent poll has shown a whopping 93.2 per cent of votes in favour of relaxing cannabis laws in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The poll, run by Far North start-up Te Hiku Cannabis, was launched late last year, seeking feedback on the controversial topic.

Te Hiku Cannabis founders Trish Fabling and Rueben Taipari (Ngāpuhi) started the company in 2021 after the 2020 referendum on cannabis showed almost half (48.4 per cent) of New Zealand voters were in support of legalising the plant.

More than 2000 people took part in this most recent poll (2186), with the vast majority agreeing the ‘laws and enforcement around cannabis’ should be relaxed.

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The remaining 6.8 per cent were split between should ‘be strengthened’ and should ‘stay as they are’.

Just over 2000 (2037) people responded to the question of how cannabis regulations should be relaxed, with 64.2 per cent voting for the drug to be legalised, 35.3 per cent for decriminalisation and the remaining .5 per cent answering they were ‘unsure’.

When asked if cannabis was legalised, should all previous, minor criminal convictions related to the drug be erased from records, 89.9 per cent (of 1307 respondents) voted yes, with around 7 per cent voting no and the remaining ‘unsure’.

Fabling said she wasn’t surprised by the poll’s results and said it was likely a snapshot of how many Kiwis felt about the topic.

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“(Based on these results) I imagine that the skew would lean slightly more toward decriminalisation than legalisation or 50/50,” Fabling said.

“Most Kiwis would agree that criminal records should be expunged and I would make these assumptions based on the results of other surveys.

“The data analyst I consulted suggested that the ‘support’ number, if properly weighted, would probably be closer to 80 percent.”

A consistent theme

A similar poll was conducted by The Helen Clark Foundation in March 2021, which found 69 per cent of voters wanted cannabis to be decriminalised (20 per cent) or legalised (49 per cent).

According to the foundation, only 30 per cent of respondents thought our cannabis laws should stay the same or get tougher.

NZ Drug Foundation executive director Sarah Helm said at the time: “The research released shows the public is overwhelmingly dissatisfied with the status quo, with the vast majority of voters wanting either legalisation or decriminalisation of cannabis.

“While the referendum proposal on a specific approach to legalisation was narrowly voted down, 39 per cent of those who voted against it in the referendum actually want cannabis decriminalised,” she said.

“We continue to see thousands of New Zealanders convicted of low-level cannabis offences, even though it is clear from the research very few of us believe Kiwis should be being criminalised for these.

“The evidence shows that cannabis convictions do absolutely nothing whatsoever to deter use. Given how ineffective our punitive approach to cannabis is, we are currently doing very little to reduce cannabis harm as a country.”

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The Drug Foundation’s State of the Nation 2022 report found 94 per cent of the 266,700 people using cannabis for medicinal purposes were currently accessing the drug through the black market.

The report also highlighted how Māori continued to be hugely over-represented in drug possession statistics.

According to AUT School of Science deputy head and pharmaceutical scientist Associate Professor Ali Seyfoddin, the 2020 referendum had been too rushed, with not enough education about the issue.

He believed the legalisation debate had come down to, “a clash of beliefs/values versus science and with more time and information, people would eventually come around”.

Seyfoddin is also working with Te Hiku Cannabis to push for legislative change and claimed the world was in a period of “rediscovering cannabis” which, before 1882, had been used to treat a variety of health issues.

Fabling said with the election looming, she and her Te Hiku Cannabis colleagues hoped the poll results might encourage political parties to listen to the feedback.

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She said the Government could also look to Malta’s recent law changes which had legalised cannabis and set out clear parameters for recreational use and the operation of non-profit cannabis clubs.

“We might also see export opening up a bit to allow us to send starter material without having to pass EU Pharmacopeia standards or the setting up of seed banks to export seeds in bulk internationally,” Fabling said.

“Once we have progressive laws in place, it will enable research and development to occur that could result in helping a lot of people.”

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