Legislation comes ahead of a referendum on recreational marijuana use in next two years

This article is more than 8 months old

This article is more than 8 months old

New Zealand’s government has passed a law that will make medical marijuana widely available for thousands of patients over time, after years of campaigning by chronically ill New Zealanders who say the drug is the only thing that eases their pain.

The legislation will also allow terminally ill patients to begin smoking illegal pot immediately without facing the possibility of prosecution.

The health minister, David Clarke, said thousands of New Zealanders were living with chronic and end-of-life pain and the evidence that marijuana could safely help ease their suffering was sound.

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The law would also pave the way for New Zealand companies to manufacture medicinal cannabis products for both the local and international market, an industry which is being touted as a potential game-changer for deprived Māori communities on the east coast of the North Island, who hope to turn the thriving illegal industry into a thriving legal one.

“People nearing the end of their lives should not have to worry about being arrested or imprisoned for trying to manage their pain,” Clarke said.

“This is compassionate and caring legislation that will make a real difference to people … they can use illicit cannabis without fear of prosecution.”

The measures come ahead of a planned referendum on recreational marijuana use, which the government has pledged to hold within two years, as part of their confidence and supply agreement with coalition partner the Greens.

The new law allows much broader use of medical marijuana, which was previously been highly restricted and subject to approval by the health minister.

The campaign to make marijuana legal applauded the government for passing the legislation within their first year in office.

“New Zealanders will take this as encouragement that we don’t need to be stuck in the past,” said Sandra Murray, campaign manager for the #makeitlegal campaign.

“We are now only two steps behind the rest of the world when it comes to sensible cannabis laws and with the upcoming referendum, we are on track to become an example of how to get it right.”

Marijuana use is common in New Zealand and police largely turn a blind eye to small, recreational use of the drug, with some politicians even admitting to using it in their youth.

Chlöe Swarbrick (@_chloeswarbrick) Today Aotearoa New Zealand finally passed legislation to create a legal, local #medicinalcannabis scheme. #nzpol pic.twitter.com/Pwfesu4ncS

The opposition National party said the government had decriminalised cannabis “by stealth”, and slammed the move as “lazy and dangerous”.

“We support medicinal cannabis but strongly oppose the smoking of loose leaf cannabis in public. Smoked loose leaf is not a medicine,” said the Nationals’ spokesperson on health, Shane Reti.

Patients wanting to use marijuana for conditions like chronic pain will have to wait a year until a new set of regulations, licensing rules and quality standards are put in place.</s>MOSCOW: New Zealand's parliament on Tuesday passed a bill authorizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes for chronically and terminally ill people, local media reported.

The New Zealand Herald newspaper reported that the bill, which gives terminally ill people legal defense for using cannabis products, passed its third reading with the support of all coalition partners except the National Party of New Zealand, which slammed the initiative to decriminalize cannabis.

According to the previous version of the bill, the medical use of marijuana could be authorized only for people with a year or less left to live.

During the bill's second reading on November 29, New Zealand Health Minister David Clark made several adjustments, expanding the legal defence to all people needing palliative relief, the newspaper noted.

According to the newspaper, cannabis-based drugs will be available by prescription, and the law will come into force as soon as it receives royal assent.</s>New Zealand passes law allowing broader access to medical marijuana, but most patients will have to wait

New Zealand's Government has passed a law that will make medical marijuana widely available for thousands of patients over time.

The legislation will also allow terminally ill patients to begin smoking illegal pot immediately without facing the possibility of prosecution.

The measures come ahead of a planned national referendum on recreational marijuana use.

The Government has pledged to hold the referendum some time over the next two years, but has not yet set a date or finalised the wording.

The new law allows patients much broader access to medical marijuana, which was previously highly restricted.

But most patients will have to wait a year until a new set of regulations, licensing rules and quality standards are put in place.

The law will also allow medical marijuana products to be manufactured in New Zealand for both domestic and overseas markets.

Health Minister David Clark said in a statement the new law would help ease suffering.

"This will be particularly welcome as another option for people who live with chronic pain," he said.

He said the 25,000 people who are in palliative care with terminal illnesses did not have time to wait for the new scheme, and so the law provided a legal defence for them to use illegal marijuana.

But the Opposition's health spokesman, Shane Reti, said the new law was "lazy and dangerous" because it does not provide details of the planned medical marijuana scheme, and would also allow some people to start smoking pot in public.

"We support medicinal cannabis but strongly oppose the smoking of loose-leaf cannabis in public," Dr Reti said.

Dr Reti said the new law amounted to decriminalising marijuana by stealth.</s>WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- New Zealand's government has passed a law that will make medical marijuana widely available for thousands of patients over time.

The legislation passed Tuesday will also allow terminally ill patients to begin smoking illegal pot immediately without facing the possibility of prosecution.

The measures come ahead of a planned national referendum on recreational marijuana use. The government has pledged to hold that referendum some time over the next two years, but has not yet set a date or finalized the wording.

The new law allows much broader use of medical marijuana, which was previously highly restricted. But patients wanting to use marijuana for conditions like chronic pain will have to wait a year until a new set of regulations, licensing rules and quality standards are put in place.</s>The New Zealand Herald newspaper reported that the bill, which terminally ill people legal defence for using cannabis products, passed its third reading with the support of all coalition partners except the National Party of New Zealand, which slammed the initiative to decriminalise cannabis.

READ MORE: South Korea — First East Asian Country to Legalize Medical Marijuana

During the bill's second reading on 29 November, New Zealand Health Minister David Clark made several adjustments, expanding the legal defence to all people needing palliative relief, the newspaper noted.

According to the newspaper, cannabis-based drugs will be available by prescription, and the law will come into force as soon as it receives royal assent.</s>New Zealand's parliament approved on Tuesday a bill that will allow the medicinal use of marijuana, making it possible for patients with chronic pain to acquire the drug with a prescription.

The Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Bill, which passed the third and final reading in parliament and will soon become law, classifies cannabidiol (a chemical in marijuana) as a prescription medicine instead of a controlled drug.</s>New Zealand’s Government has passed a law that will make medical marijuana widely available for thousands of patients over time.

The legislation will also allow terminally ill patients to begin smoking illegal pot immediately without facing the possibility of prosecution.

The measures come ahead of a planned national referendum on recreational marijuana use.

The Government has pledged to hold the referendum some time over the next two years, but has not yet set a date or finalised the wording.

The new law allows patients much broader access to medical marijuana, which was previously highly restricted.

But most patients will have to wait a year until a new set of regulations, licensing rules and quality standards are put in place.

The law will also allow medical marijuana products to be manufactured in New Zealand for both domestic and overseas markets.

Health Minister David Clark said in a statement the new law would help ease suffering.

“This will be particularly welcome as another option for people who live with chronic pain,” he said.

He said the 25,000 people who are in palliative care with terminal illnesses did not have time to wait for the new scheme, and so the law provided a legal defence for them to use illegal marijuana.</s>
• New Zealand made marijuana legal for terminally ill patients with a new law passed on Tuesday.
• The Health Minister David Clark says it will give 25,000 people relief from pain in their final days.
• The government has promised a referendum on full legalization by 2020, and one study suggests 2/3 people are in favour of some kind of legalization.
• Many signs point to New Zealand joining Canada and Venezuela, the two countries which have fully legalized the drug already.

New Zealand passed a law on Tuesday which will relax marijuana laws, and allow terminally ill patients to use the drug. The government has promised to follow the move with a full referendum on making recreational weed legal.

The new law, the Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Bill, means that some 25,000 terminally ill or ill patients can use marijuana products to alleviate pain without fear of arrest, Health Minister David Clark said.

The law also means that marijuana products can be manufactured in New Zealand for both domestic and overseas markets, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

The new law increases New Zealand's chances of being the third country in the world to legalize recreational marijuana, after Canada and Venezuela, as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has promised a referendum on the issue before 2020.

Read more: How smoking cannabis can affect your sleep for better or worse

If the vote goes ahead, polls suggest it could result in legalization. Support is growing, with two thirds of people reportedly pro-full, or pro-partial decriminalization, according to the New Zealand Drug Foundation.

The government's centre-right opposition, the New Zealand National Party, oppose the new law. Dr. Shane Reti, a health spokesman for the party, called it "lazy and dangerous" because people will start smoking up in public, AP said.

The new bill, which passed the third reading on Tuesday, will become law after receiving assent from the Governor-General, the final, ceremonial part of the legislative process.</s>A bill that gives terminally ill people a legal defence for using illicit cannabis products has passed its third reading in Parliament today.

The Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Bill also gives them a defence to possess utensils for using cannabis.

That defence comes into force as soon as the bill receives royal assent.

The National Party, which flip-flopped on its support for the bill, today called it decriminalisation of cannabis by stealth and voted against it.

But it passed with the support of all coalition partners.

The bill passed just shy of a year since it was introduced to Parliament as part of the Government's 100-day plan improve access to medicinal cannabis for terminally ill people and those in chronic pain.

Last month, during the bill's second reading, Health Minister David Clark made changes to the bill that expanded the defence to all people needing palliative relief, rather than just those with a year or less to live, as it previously was.

The changes also created a requirement for regulations for the Medicinal Cannabis Scheme to be in place no later than one year after the law comes into effect, allaying concerns that it could take as long as 2020 before the regulatory framework was in place.

It made clear that cannabis varieties already in New Zealand could be used for medicinal products, prompting at least one therapeutic cannabis company to call for illicit growers to come forward with their unique strains.

National supported the Government's bill at first reading but then pulled its support in July with its own bill which it said set out a more comprehensive and well-researched regime for the use of medicinal cannabis.

It then supported the bill at second reading, with a condition that loose-leaf cannabis not be included, and that aspects of its own bill were included.

National's associate health spokesman Shane Reti's bill contained more detail around regulating the regime but Clark said Reti's proposals had been considered and rejected on the advice of health officials and clinicians.

Following the bill's passing, Clark said the statutory defence would be available to around 25,000 people who could benefit from palliative care.

"This is compassionate and caring legislation that will make a real difference to people living in pain and nearing the end of their lives," Clark said in a statement.

"Today's vote in Parliament clears the way for the creation of a Medicinal Cannabis Scheme that will allow New Zealand companies to manufacture medicinal cannabis products for both the local and international market."

Those medicinal products will be available on prescription.

Reti said the Government had decriminalised marijuana by stealth.

"The Government's Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Bill which has passed today allows the smoking of loose-leaf cannabis in public and does not provide the details or framework for a permanent medicinal cannabis scheme.

"We support medicinal cannabis but strongly oppose the smoking of loose leaf cannabis in public. Smoked loose leaf is not a medicine," Reti said.

Green Party drug law reform spokeswoman Chloe Swarbrick said the bill provided certainty and clarity to patients and their whānau.

"Too many New Zealanders are going into debt to access expensive big pharma products, or being turned into criminals in having to access an unregulated black market for cannabis," Swarbrick said in a statement.

"Today we move towards delivering on something the Greens have worked on for decades. Today is for champions and advocates like Helen Kelly, Rose Renton, Rebecca Reider, Nandor Tanczos and so many more bold and brave New Zealanders," she said.</s>The Western Journal has not reviewed this Associated Press story prior to publication. Therefore, it may contain editorial bias or may in some other way not meet our normal editorial standards. It is provided to our readers as a service from The Western Journal.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand’s government on Tuesday passed a law that will make medical marijuana widely available for thousands of patients over time.

The legislation will also allow terminally ill patients to begin smoking illegal pot immediately without facing the possibility of prosecution.

The measures come ahead of a planned national referendum on recreational marijuana use. The government has pledged to hold the referendum some time over the next two years, but has not yet set a date or finalized the wording.

The new law allows patients much broader access to medical marijuana, which was previously highly restricted. But most patients will have to wait a year until a new set of regulations, licensing rules and quality standards are put in place.

The law will also allow medical marijuana products to be manufactured in New Zealand for both domestic and overseas markets.

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Health Minister Dr. David Clark said in a statement the new law will help ease suffering.

“This will be particularly welcome as another option for people who live with chronic pain,” he said.

He said the 25,000 people who are in palliative care with terminal illnesses didn’t have time to wait for the new scheme, and so the law provided a legal defense for them to use illegal marijuana.

“People nearing the end of their lives should not have to worry about being arrested or imprisoned for trying to manage their pain,” Clark said.

But the opposition’s health spokesman, Dr. Shane Reti, said the new law is “lazy and dangerous” because it doesn’t provide details of the planned medical marijuana scheme, and would also allow some people to start smoking pot in public.

“We support medicinal cannabis but strongly oppose the smoking of loose-leaf cannabis in public,” Reti said. “Smoked loose-leaf is not a medicine.”

Reti said the new law amounted to decriminalizing marijuana by stealth.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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New Zealand's government passes an amendment to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 to allow chronic and terminally ill patients to use medical cannabis without facing the possibility of prosecution.