New Zealand is taking giant leaps forward and continuing to maintain their image as one of the most progressive nations on the world. Final details for the cannabis referendum to take place on September 19th, 2020 have just been released.
Before we take a shallow dive into the proposed legislation, the referendum is solely for recreational cannabis use. Medicinal cannabis in New Zealand is already covered by existing laws, and will not be affected by this new bill.
Similarly, although many discussions have proclaimed new tax revenues as one of the main benefits of legalisation recreational cannabis, this bill isn’t one of them. It’s main purpose is to “reduce cannabis-related harm to individuals, families/whānau and communities”.
The bill itself is quite long at 154 pages, and you’re more than welcome to have a read through it here. For the rest, here’s a summary of the three major sections of the bill.
Legalise Restricted Access to Cannabis
A person aged 20 or over would be able to:
- Buy up to 14 grams of dried cannabis (or its equivalent) per day only from licensed outlets
- Enter licensed premises where cannabis is sold or consumed
- Consume cannabis on private property or at a licensed premise
- Grow up to 2 plants, with a maximum of 4 plants per household
- Share up to 14 grams of dried cannabis (or its equivalent) with another person aged 20 or over
Reduce Harm to People and Communities
The Bill intends to reduce cannabis-related harm to individuals, families/whānau and communities by:
- Providing access to legal cannabis that meets quality and potency requirements
- Eliminating the illegal supply of cannabis
- Raising awareness of the health risks associated with cannabis use
- Restricting young people’s access to cannabis
- Limiting the public visibility of cannabis
- Requiring health warnings on packaging and at the time of purchase
- Improving access to health and social services, and other kinds of support for families/whānau
- Making sure the response to any breach of the law is fair
Control the Production and Supply of Cannabis
The Bill would regulate how cannabis is produced and supplied by:
- Limiting the total amount of licensed cannabis for sale
- Controlling the potency and contents of licensed cannabis and cannabis products
- Applying an excise tax when a product is packaged and labelled for sale
- Setting up a licensing system under which all cannabis-related businesses must hold a licence
- Regulating location and trading hours for premises where cannabis is sold or consumed, in consultation with local communities
- Banning people from importing cannabis and allowing only licensed businesses to import cannabis seeds
- Separating businesses that are licensed to grow cannabis and produce cannabis products from businesses that are licensed to operate premises where cannabis can be sold and consumed
Notable Points
Here are some interesting points set forward in the bill:
- A cap would limit the amount of cannabis available for sale in the licensed market and no license holder will be able to sell/produce more than 20% of that cap – effectively restricting the likelihood on monopolies forming. Part of this cap would also be set aside for micro-cultivators operating on a small scale.
- No licensed premises would be allowed to advertise the fact the sell cannabis inside. So you’ll have to find suppliers through other means instead browsing shop windows.
- Cannabis drinks and fresh/dried package cannabis containing roots/stems will be prohibited to be sold.
- Importing and exporting cannabis will still be illegal. So don’t think about hopping online and ordering from overseas.
- All cannabis advertising will be banned. Plain packaging and health warnings may be implemented.
- Cannabis will not be allowed to be sold at special discounts, reduced prices, or be given away for free. So there will be no BOGO Tuesday’s or after work weed happy hours. The price of their cannabis will remain steady, similar to the cannabis prices here in Australia.
What Happens After the Referendum?
The referendum will take place on September 19th, 2020, alongside the General Election. The following questions will be asked:
Do you support the proposed Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill?
A simple YES/NO response will be offered in the following options:
- Yes, I support the proposed Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill
- No, I do not support the proposed Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill
If more than 50% of votes support legalisation, despite it being a democracy where majority rules, it won’t become legal straight away. The incoming Government can introduce a Bill to Parliament that would make the use of cannabis legal which would then include the opportunity for the public to share their thoughts and ideas on how the law might work.
In saying that – Labour, NZ First and the Greens say they will vote in line with the referendum. Despite Finance Minister Grant Robertson, Deputy Labour leader Kelvin Davis, and former Prime Minister Helen Clark all being prominent supports of the bill, there are still some who oppose.
As predicted, debate on the NZ #reeferendum to legalise cannabis has been sensible and mature. #Kiweed2020 https://t.co/wLmEmSnJ5O
— Ben McKay (@benmackey) December 4, 2019
If, however, more than 50% do not support legalisation, it’ll be thrown out immediately.
New Zealand’s proposed cannabis legalisation bill is a step forward in the right direction. Taking bits and pieces from already legalised areas around the world, adapting them for their local economy, and vastly improving in certain areas, such as capping one company’s market share to a maximum of 20%.
Results of the referendum will undoubtedly be discussed in Australia. Unfortunately, with the Kiwis taking the first step, it’s likely Australian states will wait and see how it pans out for their community and economy before following in their footsteps.
You can read a summary of the bill here, the full legalisation bill here, or the summarised summary here.