Majority in poll back legalising of cannabis

A new poll shows 60 per cent of Kiwis would vote to legalise cannabis for personal use in a referendum.

It also reveals more than 300,000 adults — mainly the youngest and the poorest — use cannabis daily, contrary to findings in other research.

The poll is the first since the Government last month said the referendum on the issue will be held with the 2020 election and will be binding.

Though the question put to voters has yet to be decided, the LabourGreens confidence and supply deal says the vote will be “on legalising the personal use of cannabis”.

That’s the same question used in a survey by Horizon Research, commissioned by licensed medicinal cannabis firm Helius Therapeutics.

Twenty four per cent would vote “no”, and 16 per cent had no opinion.

The strongest support for legalisation came from the 25 to 34 age group (75 per cent). The only group that did not show majority support for legalisation was the 65 and overs.

Thirty nine per cent wanted the legal age to buy cannabis set at 18; 36 per cent backed 21.

The survey also saw a clear majority — 55 per cent — saying they had used cannabis at some time, with 10 per cent saying they used it daily.

That would equate to about 340,000 adults using cannabis daily, much higher than other surveys. Daily use was most prevalent among people aged 18 to 24 (22 per cent) and among those earning $20,000 a year or less (30 per cent).

Norml NZ, which advocates for marijuana law reform, puts the daily user number at around 70,000 (from a 2010 Horizon survey), while the Ministry of Health 2012/13 cannabis use survey showed only 3.8 per cent of adults aged 15 and over used cannabis on a weekly basis.

The survey also found 81 per cent support for medicinal cannabis.

The Government last year passed a law for medicinal cannabis and this year will work on regulations.

The nationwide survey in October polled 995 adults 18 and over, and was weighted to be representative of the population at the 2013 Census. Its margin of error is 3.1 per cent.