9 Mar 2021

Cannabis decriminalisation urged despite failed referendum

From Morning Report, 6:50 am on 9 March 2021

The government is being urged to decriminalise cannabis, despite the bid to push forward legalisation narrowly failing last year.

A new poll, which surveyed a 1000 New Zealanders who voted in the referendum, shows about two-thirds want the drug legalised or decriminalised.

The poll was conducted by the market research firm UMR for the Helen Clark Foundation.

The Foundation's executive director Kathy Errington says a lot of the benefits that would have been seen with the Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill, could still be achieved by decriminalisation.