Medicinal pot bill passes

The Government has passed its medicinal cannabis bill, which will establish a regulated market within a year and give those close to death a legal defence before then.

After a long road to the third reading, the bill passed yesterday afternoon with the support of Labour, the Greens, and NZ First. Both the Greens and NZ First won some concessions to the bill, which has been criticised by medicinal marijuana advocates for not going far enough – and by National as ‘‘decriminalisation by stealth’’.

The bill sets up a statutory defence which allows those close to death in palliative care to consume illicit marijuana with a legal defence if prosecuted. This is intended as a bridging mechanism until the full Medicinal Cannabis Scheme is set up, which will make the process much more simple.

The Green Party has pushed for this to happen no later than a year after the law comes into effect in a few days – and for that market to allow native strains of cannabis to be used, not just imported cannabis.

NZ First won a concession to extend the legal defence to those in palliative care.