Kōrero: Drugs

'Daktar Testtube' puffs on a cannabis cigarette during a rally to promote the legalisation of the drug in August 2010. Since 1979 – when a legalisation group, NORML, was set up – there have been New Zealanders campaigning for the law on cannabis to be changed. Despite some evidence that a majority of adults were sympathetic to a more liberal regime, the legal restrictions on the drug remained, although anecdotal evidence suggested that enforcement did become less strict over time. A referendum on legalising recreational cannabis use is to be held at the same time as the 2020 general election.