New Zealand police relaunch cannabis eradication program

New Zealand police have budgeted more than 600,000 $ for a national cannabis eradication program, one year after the cancellation of the operation. Officials had quietly ended this practice in January 2021, stating that the heads of the country's 12 police districts no longer supported the program.

According to a briefing press release to Stuff, six police districts are participating in the relaunch of the eradication operation. The other six districts have indicated that they will continue to manage local cannabis eradication as needed and are not participating in the coordinated national effort.

The operation, dubbed Operation Emerald, began in January and will continue through next month.

The initial operating budget for the eradication program was 575,000 $ and was to come from the police’s core funding. The budget has since increased to 635,000 $ due to rising costs, a police spokesperson said.

Green Party MP Chlöe Swarbrick, who advocates for a Legalization of cannabis in New Zealand, clarified that the only «successful seizure» lawmakers had heard about under the program involved three plants grown by a couple in Coromandel.

The owner explained that the police had a helicopter fly over their property and seized their plants while they were having dinner. The person stated that «the money the police allocated for the eradication program would have been better spent on criminals who cause real damage … [rather than] medical growers and very small-scale growers with just one or two plants who cause little or no harm.».

The program has been in existence since the 1980s. Although it had been discontinued due to a lack of interest and success, its budget had not been reallocated and therefore remained available, which led to its revival.

«Its failure is so profound that even the cheerleaders for prohibition cannot see the irony in their argument that cannabis is now much stronger than it has ever been—precisely because of these actions, which continue to drive cannabis production and consumption underground, into unregulated spaces,» said Chlöe Swarbrick.

In 2020, New Zealanders rejected a referendum on cannabis 53% compared to 46%.