Summarised by Centrist
Police are escalating efforts against commercial cannabis growers. However, Green Party drug law spokesperson Kahurangi Carter says, “When almost 50% of the country agrees with legalising cannabis, the social licence isn’t there.”
In 2020, a referendum narrowly kept cannabis illegal, with 50.7 percent voting no.
Police Association president Chris Cahill admitted the split vote left officers “in a bit of a tricky situation.” He said 83 percent of adults and 99 percent of youth caught with cannabis are diverted into “alternative action” instead of prosecution.
But organised crime remained a target. “It’s all a significant money-making route for organised crime, so it’s right that police concentrate at that top-end stuff,” he said.
This week, police arrested 30 people, mostly Vietnamese nationals, across 120 grow houses in Auckland, seizing nine tonnes of cannabis, more than 11,000 plants, and $12,000 cash.
2024 figures show Māori made up almost half of those still charged. The Drug Foundation argued the law itself fuels gangs. “As long as we decide to leave supply of cannabis to the unregulated black market, it will be organised crime that profits, and police will be stuck playing whack-a-mole,” said deputy executive director Ben Birks Ang.
An estimated 650,000 adults used cannabis last year. Birks Ang warned that demand is rising among older New Zealanders. “This has only trended upwards over the last decade.”
