New Zealand will hold a referendum by 2020 on whether to legalise the recreational use of cannabis, Prime Minister-elect Jacinda Ardern said on Friday, BBC reported. This is part of her Labour Party’s agreement with coalition partner Green Party, the New Zealand Herald reported.
Ardern will take over as the next Prime Minister after the New Zealand First Party on Thursday said it would support her party in forming a coalition government. At 37, she will be the country’s second-youngest prime minister and the third woman to hold the post after Jenny Shipley and Helen Clark.
Ardern said she had “always been very open” about her opposition to criminalisation of the personal use of cannabis. However, she added, “On the flip side, I also have concerns around young people accessing a product which can clearly do harm and damage to them.”
She said she wanted to hear citizens’ views and would consider carefully the wording of the referendum question, BBC reported.
The Green Party’s James Shaw said, “The prohibition model has not worked, plus it puts the entire trade into the hands of gangs, the New Zealand Herald reported. “If you had a regulated market, the same way we do with alcohol and tobacco, you can control the price, advertising, point of sale, quality, and run full public health education campaigns.”
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