PERSPECTIVES ON MARIJUANA POLICY IN NEW ZEALAND: 1990 AND 1998.

• Author: Field, Adrian

INTRODUCTION(1)

In 1990, some 5,000 New Zealanders were surveyed on their use of marijuana, and their attitudes and concerns relating to the drug. The survey found that marijuana had been tried by almost half of young adults in New Zealand. Throughout the 1990s there was a vigorous and diverse public debate on marijuana policy, often challenging policies and proposing alternatives. A follow-up survey of the same regions eight years later, in 1998, provides an opportunity to examine to what extent public views on marijuana have shifted.

This paper provides a brief overview of the history of marijuana use in New Zealand and examines the changing patterns of public attitudes to its use. It draws on the 1990 and 1998 regional surveys conducted in a metropolitan area (greater Auckland) and a provincial/rural area (Bay of Plenty) in 1990 and 1998. The paper concludes by looking at attitudes to marijuana use in these New Zealand surveys, in comparison with those from other countries with different cannabis policies.

EVOLUTION AND CONTEXT OF MARIJUANA POLICY IN NEW ZEALAND

Marijuana use in New Zealand dates back to the end of the nineteenth century, when it was both inexpensive and widely available. Known then as "Indian hemp", and not classed as a poison or subject to customs duties, the leaf and resin were commonly used by doctors, nurses and midwives, and often included in drug companies' products (Yska 1990). However, by World War I, hemp was increasingly associated with opium and crime. In response to a growing international clamour for legislative curbs on use, marijuana sale and use was made illegal under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1927. Use then virtually disappeared until the drug's revival in the 1950s and 1960s, reflecting increased marijuana use in other countries, and changing social norms.

The drug's illegal status did not change in subsequent years. New Zealand's historically restrictive approach to marijuana use should be seen in the context of international policies against use of the drug, beginning with actions led by the League of Nations after World War I, and continued by its successor, the United Nations (Fastier 1998, Yska 1990). New Zealand, as a signatory to the United Nations 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, is obliged to assist with international efforts to control cultivation, production and distribution of cannabis, as well as a broad range of other recreational drugs (Krajewski 1999). Signatories to these agreements employ different strategies in meeting their international obligations, and New Zealand's response has been to enforce laws that make cultivation, supply, possession and use of cannabis illegal, under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975.

Although cannabis use is explicitly illegal under New Zealand legislation, in practice New Zealand employs a mixture of supply reduction, demand reduction and harm-minimisation strategies (Abel and Casswell 1998). New Zealand has also on occasion taken an independent stance on drug issues in the international arena, including criticising countries that blindly pursue a "war on drugs" (Delamere 1998).

The cannabis issue has often arisen in the political arena. In the 1996 general election, the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party gained 1.6% of the party votes, under a Mixed Member Proportional electoral system, making it the seventh most popular party. In 1998, a cross-party Parliamentary Select Committee, investigating the mental health effects of cannabis, concluded that cannabis laws should be reviewed (Health Select Committee 1998). However, this was rejected by the governing National Party, whose response to the committee stated that the "legal status of cannabis is not an issue that the Government intends to review" (New Zealand Government 1999).

Cannabis policy became the subject of considerable debate during the 1999 election campaign. In the build-up to the election campaign, the Green Party called for "legalisation of possession of cannabis for personal use" (Green Party of Aoteoroa New Zealand 1999). In the later stages of the campaign, Prime Minister Shipley criticised the Green Party's policy on cannabis use, which attracted widespread media attention (Espiner 1999). When voting was completed, the Aoteoroa Legalise Cannabis Party had obtained 1.1% of the nation-wide party vote. Although this was a decline from 1.6% in 1996, it is believed that the attention given to the Green Party's policies led to some vote-switching (Gardiner 1999). The Green Party themselves polled 5.2% in the elections, entitling them to seven parliamentary...