Cannabis referendum: A simple yes or no question on reform at 2020 General Election

The 2020 cannabis referendum will be a simple yes/no question on a piece of draft law that had not yet passed, Justice Minister Andrew Little says.

This means a future Government would have to actually enact a law change if voted for, meaning it is not binding, although Little is describing it as such.

If the public endorsed the legislation it would:

• Legalise personal use and purchase at age 20
• Only allow sale at a licensed premises
• Only allow consumption at a licensed premises or private property
• Would allow limited home-growing
• Ban all advertising for cannabis products

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"There will be a clear choice for New Zealanders in a referendum at the 2020 General Election. Cabinet has agreed there will be a simple Yes/No question on the basis of a draft piece of legislation," Little said.

"Officials are now empowered to draft the legislation with stakeholder input, and the Electoral Commission will draft the referendum question to appear on the ballot."

Little described the referendum as "binding" because all of the parties in the current Government had committed to enacting the result of the referendum. 

However this doesn't rule out the possibility of a Government made up of different parties either refusing to pass the bill or modifying it. Little called on the National Party to make a similar commitment.

National leader Simon Bridges immediately rejected this call, saying he would have to see the draft bill before he made a decision.

Little did not commit to passing the draft legislation in its exact wording put out, saying small things could change but the principles would be carried through.

He said the draft legislation would be ready by the end of the year or early next year.

Advice by his own ministry provided in an Official Information Act to the National Party described a binding referendum as only ones with automatic enactment.

On Sunday, the National Party released some detail from an allegedly leaked Cabinet paper on the issue.

National Party drug spokeswoman Paula Bennett said on Monday night she expected the Government to pick an option that would see draft legislation offered up to the public, rather than any bill passed ahead of the referendum. This proved correct.

The Green Party won the referendum on the legalisation of personal use of cannabis during coalition negotiations.

The party pushed very hard to have a bill passed ahead of the referendum but activated by the vote, meaning a future government wouldn't have to do anything to enact the legislation.

Green drug reform spokeswoman Chloe Swarbrick said the party had "succeeded" in Government negotiations on the issue.

"Today's announcement shows we've built consensus across Government for a transparent and detailed law that will give voters the clarity they need before voting in the 2020 cannabis referendum," Swarbrick said.

"Having the proposed law developed and released ahead of the referendum is key. We've made it abundantly clear throughout the negotiations that our preferred position was to see legislation passed through Parliament before the referendum so it was 'self-executing' with a majority yes vote.

"But we didn't gain consensus on that step. As it is, a yes vote will be informed by a clear regulatory regime set out in draft legislation that people will know and understand. We will avoid any potential of a 'Brexit' situation because people will know exactly what the future holds, and how these changes will be implemented."

"The Government announcement confirms that all parties commit to fully implementing this legislation if there is a majority yes vote. It's incumbent on the National Party to let the people of this country know whether or not they will also honour the vote."

Little released a Cabinet paper alongside the announcement that had an example question likely to be close to what is asked: "Do you support legalising the personal use of recreational cannabis in accordance to [published draft legislation?"

"The Green Party supports a legal framework for cannabis - to bring it out of the shadows and the black market," he said.

"We will take a practical, evidence-informed, health-based approach to reduce as much as possible the harm caused by drug use and addiction. We want to displace the black market. We will not stand to see it simply replaced with corporate control, like alcohol or tobacco."

The paper notes this option, if a "yes" vote won, "would result in the duly elected government and Parliament having some moral imperative, but no obligation, to enact the legislation."

The referendum is due to be held alongside the 2020 election.

Polling on the issue has shown mixed results depending on how the question is worded.

A Curia poll commissioned by Family First found just 18 per cent of respondents supported "lifting restrictions" on cannabis for recreational use. This question did not present a simple yes/no option as a referendum is likely to do however, and was preceded by many questions that suggested big tobacco were pushing for legalisation of cannabis and that the drug was dangerous.

An earlier poll by the same company commissioned by the New Zealand Drug Foundation found that 65 per cent of people supported it being either legalised or decriminalised for personal use.

NO MMP REFERENDUM

Little also used the opportunity to rule out any other government-initiated referendums at the 2020 election.

This rules out the possibility of a referendum on the shape of the electoral system, which had been previously mooted.