New Zealanders say no to cannabis legalization

According to preliminary results, the referendum on the legalization of cannabis was rejected by New Zealand voters. At last count (83% of votes), 53% of voters would have chosen not to support the initiative, while 46% voted in favor of legalizing cannabis in New Zealand. A second referendum to legalize euthanasia in New Zealand appears to be on course for approval, with 65% of votes in favor, according to results released Friday by the Wellington Electoral Commission.

L’cannabis initiative proposed that the possession, consumption and home cultivation of cannabis by adults aged 20 and over be legalized. The measure also proposed to establish a regulated market for the sale of cannabis, with dedicated stores and consumption venues.

Supporters argued that legalization would eliminate the influence of criminal organizations on the cannabis market in New Zealand, where 80% of the population report trying cannabis at age 20. Supporters also noted that national drug laws were unfairly enforced, with indigenous Maori citizens three times more likely to be arrested and convicted for cannabis than non-Maoris.

Asher Etherington of Make It Legal New Zealand, a group that campaigned for the initiative's passage, expressed disappointment at the election results published on Friday.

«If no voter thought that by voting against this opportunity, Kiwis would stop using cannabis, they didn't pay attention,» a declared Etherington. «The cannabis reform lobby here has been fighting for decades and is prepared to fight for decades more to achieve positive reform.»

Tuari Potiki, President of the New Zealand Drug Foundation, called for the continuation of drug reform efforts and the elimination of the criminalization of cannabis, asserting that punitive measures are disproportionately borne by Maori and young people.

«Although a majority of New Zealanders did not vote for the proposed legalization model, the debate showed a clear public desire for legal change in one form or another,» a declared Potiki in a press release.

A positive vote in the referendum would not have led to immediate legalization. The New Zealand government would have opened a period of public comment on the reform, and then had to finalize the bill before passing it.