New Zealand\u2019s Justice Minister Andrew Little confirmed Tuesday that the promised referendum on cannabis legalization will be held during the archipelago nation\u2019s 2020 election \u2014 and it will be binding.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a bit of detail still to work through, but we are telling the electoral commission that\u2019s when it\u2019s going to be,\u201d Little\u00a0told local media<\/a>. \u201cWe know when it will be, we have a commitment that it will be binding, and now it is just a question on filling in the detail from there.\u201d<\/p>\n The announcement comes one week after\u00a0New Zealand\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0government\u00a0passed a medical marijuana bill<\/a>\u00a0that has\u00a0been in the works<\/a>\u00a0for over a year, laying the groundwork for a legal cannabis industry. The\u00a0Medicinal Cannabis Amendment Bill<\/a>\u00a0mandates changes to the Misuse of Drugs Act to be phased in over the next year. However, the law immediately provides statutory defense for the terminally ill,\u00a0allowing<\/a>\u00a0some 25,000 in palliative care to access cannabis.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople nearing the end of their lives should not have to worry about being arrested or imprisoned for trying to manage their pain,\u201d said Health Minister David Clarke. \u201cThis is compassionate and caring legislation that will make a real difference to people\u2026 they can use illicit cannabis without fear of prosecution.\u201d<\/p>\n Among the reforms mandated by the law is the removal of\u00a0CBD products<\/a>\u00a0from classification as controlled substances altogether. Plans for legal cannabis production\u00a0are especially being\u00a0hailed by marginalized Maori communities<\/a>\u00a0on the east coast of the North Island, who hope to turn the region\u2019s illegal commerce into a robust above-ground industry.<\/p>\n The center-left\u00a0Labour Party<\/a>\u00a0government in Wellington simultaneously\u00a0unveiled a proposal<\/a>\u00a0for further reform of the Misuse of Drugs Act to address the opioids crisis and curb a frightening surge of synthetic drug overdoses. The new policy calls for treating possession and consumption of illegal drugs as a public health issue while focusing enforcement on suppliers of synthetic drugs.<\/p>\n The proposed amendments\u00a0would mandate<\/a>\u00a0that police and judicial authorities \u201cnot prosecute for possession and personal use where a therapeutic approach would be more beneficial, or there is no public interest in a prosecution.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Police Minister Stuart Nash instructed police and prosecutors to \u201cuse their discretion\u201d in pursuing charges.\u00a0\u201cWe are striking a balance between discouraging drug use and recognizing that many people using drugs need support from the health system, or education about harm reduction,\u201d he said. \u201cWe don\u2019t want our jails full of people with addiction problems, we want those people getting treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n Holding a referendum on cannabis legalization is a condition of the Labour Party\u2019s \u201cconfidence and supply agreement<\/a>\u201d with the\u00a0Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand<\/a>, which has been aggressively pushing the idea. The Green Party has a\u00a0petition on its website<\/a>\u00a0to pressure the government on the question.<\/p>\n After this week\u2019s government announcement, Green MP Chloe Swarbrick\u00a0said on Twitter<\/a>\u00a0that her party is proud the referendum will go forward.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve long advocated for a binding referendum with legislation setting out a clear, evidence-based regulatory framework,\u201d she wrote. \u201cThat way, we avoid a Brexit-type situation figuring out what a \u2018yes\u2019 vote means after the fact and cut grey moral panic from the debate.\u201d<\/p>\n The\u00a0Cannabis Referendum Coalition<\/a>\u00a0also\u00a0welcomed the announcement<\/a>, pledging to launch a campaign to maximize turnout.<\/p>\n The right-wing opposition\u00a0National Party<\/a>\u00a0is staunchly opposed to legalization, and\u00a0blasted<\/a>\u00a0the medical marijuana law as \u201cdecriminalization by stealth.\u201d The more populist\u00a0New Zealand First<\/a>\u00a0party is so far noncommittal on the question.<\/p>\n TELL US<\/b>, what country should legalize marijuana next?<\/p>\n The post New Zealand Approves Medical Marijuana, Confirms 2020 Legalization Vote<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
New Zealand\u2019s Justice Minister Andrew Little confirmed Tuesday that the promised referendum on cannabis legalization will be held during the archipelago nation\u2019s 2020 election \u2014 and it will be binding. \u201cThere is a bit of detail still to work through, but we are telling the electoral commission that\u2019s when it\u2019sContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6814,50,136,4562,687,139,1112,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31500"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31500"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31501,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31500\/revisions\/31501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Medical Marijuana Passes In New Zealand<\/h4>\n
Police, Prosecutors Reined In<\/h4>\n
Green Party Support Propels Cannabis Issue<\/h4>\n
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\nRead More: New Zealand Approves Medical Marijuana, Confirms 2020 Legalization Vote<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"