Jack Tame: Forget America, cannabis reform in NZ is still a long way off

I once interviewed a man as he smoked cannabis through a gas mask.

It was, it has to be said, an impressive and innovative contraption. The rubber gas mask was one that you’d pick up in an army surplus store. It sealed his face on all sides and connected to a hose, which in turn connected to a water pipe. Clearly his cannabis use hadn’t fully diminished his creative abilities.

That interview was almost a decade ago. It took place in a public square right in the centre of Denver, Colorado, at the first 4/20 rally since the state legalised recreational cannabis. There were thousands of people in attendance all smoking cannabis together. At the time, the organisers celebrated it as the largest communal cannabis smoke in American history.

Yesterday, history came calling again. On an order from Joe Biden, everyone with a federal possession conviction will be pardoned for their crime. The President, a man who turns 80 next month, and whose son has well-documented struggles with addiction, stood up and acknowledged that cannabis laws have ultimately caused more harm than good.

To think what advocates would have done for that kind of political leadership here.

Ultimately, it’s only a matter of time before New Zealand follows in America’s footsteps and regulates the sale and supply of recreational cannabis. But the result of the 2020 Cannabis referendum has delayed that inevitability longer than it might otherwise have been.

Throwing cannabis legalisation to a referendum was an abdication of political leadership and the Prime Minister’s refusal to take a public position in the debate was an illuminating demonstration of her political priorities. She shirked basic leadership for fear her position might cost a few votes. Although her support may not have been enough to push the ‘Yes’ team over the line, in a general election that delivered her party a record result, one can only assume it might have helped.

But for all the inevitable noise off the back of Joe Biden’s announcement, the result of the New Zealand referendum means neither of the major political parties will legalise recreational cannabis until they’re absolutely sure a clear and substantial majority of voters supports them doing so. Having seen it fail once, even by a tiny margin, there’s good reason to think a regulated market might still be several political cycles away.

Since Colorado legalised recreational cannabis a decade ago, 18 other U.S states have followed suit. Cannabis has been decriminalised in 31 U.S states. But while New Zealand sticks doggedly to the status quo, cannabis use isn’t decreasing.

A majority of Kiwi teens will have used it before their twentieth birthday. And just you watch, at exactly the same time as our politicians refuse to do anything about cannabis, many of them will vote against new restrictions on booze.

We’ll criminalise the possession of one drug but happily promote a more damaging one.

The hypocrisy riles.

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