Vote in New Zealand rejects legalization of cannabis

Preliminary election results in New Zealand suggest that an initiative to legalize cannabis has been rejected by voters, although some votes have yet to be counted. The results of the October 17 election show that 53% of voters did not support the initiative, while 46% voted in favor of legalizing marijuana. A second referendum to legalize euthanasia in New Zealand appeared to be heading towards approval with 65% of the vote, according to the results published by the Wellington Electoral Commission on Friday.

The Cannabis Initiative would legalize the possession, use and home growing of cannabis for recreational purposes by adults aged 20 and over. The move would also create a regulated market for commercial cannabis sales, and stores and cafes for the sale and use of cannabis would be licensed by the government. Proponents of the initiative argued that legalization would remove the influence of criminal organizations on the marijuana market in New Zealand, where 80% of the population say they tried cannabis by the age of 20.

Proponents of the measure also noted that the country's drug laws are being unjustly enforced, given that native Maori citizens are three times more likely to be arrested and convicted on cannabis charges than non-Maori citizens. Asher Etherington of Make It Legal New Zealand, a group that campaigned for the initiative to be passed, was disappointed with the election results released on Friday. "If no voters thought that by rejecting this opportunity the kiwis would stop using cannabis, they were not paying attention," said Etherington.

"The cannabis reform lobby here has fought for decades and is ready to fight for positive reform for decades to come." Tuari Potiki, chairman of the New Zealand Drug Foundation, called for continued efforts to reform drugs and eradicate the criminalization of cannabis, saying 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 has shown a clear public desire for some form of legal change," Potiki said in a statement.

Prime Minister criticized for lack of support Proponents of the measure criticized Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who easily won re-election in the vote last week. She had failed to publicly support the initiative despite admitting in a debate late last month that she had used marijuana "a long time ago". It wasn't until Friday that she finally confirmed that she had voted for the measure.

Richard Shaw, a politics professor at Massey University, said the election result "could have been much tighter if the prime minister had publicly represented the position we now know was in the vote," and added: "There is a certain amount of dissatisfaction, frustration and not a little anger that she has now hinted that she has this position and has not clarified why she did not take that position before the election. Although approximately 480,000 "special votes" remain to be counted, the chance of a change in the preliminary results when the final count is announced on November 6th appears to be slim. On Friday, Attorney General Andrew Little said the initiative was "highly unlikely" to prevail in the final results, and said the government had "no other plans regarding drug law reform".