Public Support for Drug Law Reform

NORML wants to make drug law reform the hot topic of any election campaign.

After years of campaigning by thousands of individuals across all parties, there is strong public support for drug law reform.

  • Around 65% of the NZ public supports the medicinal use of cannabis
  • A UMR Insight poll in 2000 found a majority of 60% for reform
  • Opinion polls vary but even at around 40%, polls confirm that about one million NZers support some form of law reform.

Why do Kiwis support drug law reform?

For most young people, it is a question of personal freedom.  And, most parents and grandparents don’t want their children/grandchildren criminalised…

Prompted by NORML, over 3500 Kiwis made submissions to the Law Commission supporting our proposals:

  • decriminalisation of all drugs – “it’s a health issue, not a crime”;
  • safe, legal, medicinal marijuana;
  • regulated (eg. adults-only) taxable market for cannabis and other low-risk drugs  – “separating the markets for low-risk and high-risk drugs”;
  • the current law is racist and discriminatory.

Background

The Law Commission review (Controlling and Regulating Drugs, May 2011) was the first official review of the NZ Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 to be conducted by a body independent of politicians and government departments. It’s key recommendations were:

  • A mandatory cautioning scheme for all personal possession and use offences that come to the attention of the police, removing minor drug offenders from the criminal justice system and providing greater opportunities for those in need of treatment to access it.
  • A full scale review of the current drug classification system which is used to determine restrictiveness of controls and severity of penalties, addressing existing inconsistencies and focusing solely on assessing a drug’s risk of harm, including social harm.
  • Making separate funding available for the treatment of offenders through the justice sector to support courts when they impose rehabilitative sentences to address alcohol and drug dependence problems;
  • Consideration of a pilot drug court, allowing the government to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of deferring sentencing of  some  offenders until they had undergone court-imposed alcohol and/or drug treatment

The Global Commission on Drug Policy report (www.globalcommissionondrugs.org) issued in June 2011 made an even stronger case for law reform in NZ and worldwide.

  • Failure of prohibitionist policies is worldwide: The failure of prohibitionist policies has never been more obvious here and in the rest of the world.
  • In November 2010, 3.4 million Californians voted to legalise cannabis. They failed by only a narrow margin to achieve the legal regulation, control and taxation of the cannabis market in their State.
  • Our drug laws are supported by a passionate minority while the majority of the public, mostly tolerant towards what adult Kiwis choose to do in private, has become increasingly doubtful about the justice, practicality and effectiveness of the current laws.
  • Young people overwhelmingly favour law reform, and even the older generation has discovered from “celebrity” drug busts that many highly successful Kiwis use illegal drugs.