Reefer-endum bill: draft law revealed
A draft law that could legalise the personal use of cannabis has been unveiled by the Government.
Personal possession of 14 grams of cannabis, the sale of cannabis edibles, and growing up to four cannabis plants per household, could become legal in New Zealand.
The public will now be asked to vote ‘‘yes or no’’ on the Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill at the 2020 general election.
Justice Minister Andrew Little yesterday revealed the bill, as well as a new government website to provide information on both the cannabis and End of Life Choice referendum being held in 2020.
If passed, the cannabis bill would allow cannabis to be consumed, sold, and purchased for recreational use by people who are 20 years or older.
‘‘The primary objective of the legislation is to reduce the overall cannabis use and limit the ability for young people to access cannabis,’’ Little said.
Legal consumption would be restricted to personal homes and licensed premises, which will sell cannabis products of controlled potency.
Smoking on the beach will not be allowed, for instance. Online sales will also be illegal, as will retail sales of the product.
Home cultivation of two cannabis plants per person will be permitted. But no more than four plants can be grown in a household, regardless of how many people aged 20 or older live in the home.
A regulatory authority will be created to mange the licensing system, and it will be expected to work with any law enforcement agencies.
Having a criminal conviction will not prevent a person from having a licence to sell cannabis.
How much cannabis a person can possess in public will be limited no more than 14 grams.
Cannabis consumers will be able to ‘‘socially share’’ the drug in quantities of the same amount.
The Green Party had negotiated the referendum during confidence and supply talks to form the coalition Government. That agreement stipulated that the referendum would have to happen at or before the next general election.
Little has said the referendum would be binding, meaning a government would have to enact the result of the 2020 vote; however, this has been contested.
The referendum will be ‘‘indicative’’, meaning the government of the day would have to support it through the parliamentary process. This meant any new government after the 2020 election could ignore a ‘‘yes’’ vote.
Little said the first cross-party meeting on the bill would happen later this week.
National’s Simon Bridges has said he would not personally vote for legalisation, and the party would not commit to enacting the outcome of a referendum.
Police have confirmed only one ‘‘log in’’ accessed the personal details of thousands of gun owners in a data breach and the details of 35 people had been obtained.
The breach occurred after an external software developer, German company SAP, updated the system in a way which had not been authorised by police.
Police Minister Stuart Nash said not being told about the significant change was ‘‘poor form’’.
He was told that 66 gun dealers had access to the information since November 27 and SAP evidence shows only one person had accessed it. ‘‘They worked overnight to go real hard on this . . . they are adamant that only one person accessed it.’’
The details of more than 37,000 firearm owners, including the guns they possess and bank account information, were able to be accessed in the breach, according to the Council of Licensed Firearms Owners (Colfo).
The gun lobby group said it had received the data from a supporter and has released some images obtained in the breach, with personal details redacted.
It claims 19 people had been able to access the information but police had nothing to substantiate this.
The Government would look at whether police would continue to use SAP after it ‘‘got to the bottom’’ of the data breach, he said.
‘‘This is very disappointing. It is not something that police have done wrong and certainly not something that I authorised.
‘‘I will not be resigning on this.’’ licence number and bank account details. Police would be contacting the 35 people to inform them of the privacy breach, provide advice on what they can do to ensure the ongoing security of their information and answer any questions.
Fewer than 500 people had their name and addresses accessed and police would inform them too. For those who took part in the firearms buy-back programme but were not contacted by police, their details had not been accessed, he said.
The online notification platform is still offline and will remain so until police can be sure that the system is secure.
The privacy commissioner was looking into the breach.