The government of New Zealand recently announced that the nation would vote on a recreational cannabis legalization referendum, this means in 2 years the people of New Zealand will have the opportunity to vote to legalize marijuana. After the cabinet made the decision, Justice Minister Andrew Little stated that the vote would be among the national general election which will take place in 2020.
Little said that they know when the voting will take place and they have a commitment that it will be binding, and it is currently just a question on filling in the detail from there,”.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the Labour Party created a coalition government in 2017 partially based on assurances to several parties that a vote to legalize cannabis would soon be held. The Labour Party is currently leading a three-way coalition government with the Green Party and populists New Zealand First (NZF).
The people of New Zealand are showing strong support for the legalization of recreational cannabis. According to a 2017 poll, about two-thirds of New Zealand strongly supports the legalization of cannabis possession, and more than half of the population are in favor of allowing the use of medical marijuana for patients with severe conditions.
The Green Party applauded the announcement of the legalization vote. The Green Party spokesperson Chloe Swarbrick said that it is time for Parliament to meet up with the voters.
Swarbrick also said that they had numerous opinion polls for years now, which signifies that New Zealanders are positively staying ahead of political action on issues relating to cannabis law reform,”
Swarbrick added that this binding referendum offers a chance to have the will of the people initiate significant legislative changes”.
According to a political commentator with the New Zealand Herald, Audrey Young, public opinion was moving “toward liberalization.”
She said that New Zealanders are moving towards liberalization because of two things — the progression in the medicinal marijuana regime and the bill just being passed, and also just that shared sense of universal belief that the war on drugs is over and that the health measure is up for grasps.
Simon Bridges, the chief of the National Party, said that marijuana legalization would standardize the use of drugs and portrayed the referendum vote as a “skeptical” exertion to divert voters from more vital issues.
In case the 2020 referendum is victorious, it would make New Zealand the only Asia Pacific nation to authorize the recreational utilization of marijuana.
The choice to establish a recreational cannabis legalization referendum in New Zealand occurs just after the nation declared updates to its medical marijuana program. According to the new laws, severely sick patients will be permitted to utilize medicinal cannabis effectively. The decision enhances access to medicinal cannabis and gives assurance from prosecution for patients. The law additionally allows the development and production of cannabis items for both household use and exportation of marijuana to different nations.
