New Zealanders to vote on legalizing recreational cannabis in 2020

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealanders will decide whether to legalize cannabis for recreational use in a referendum held during the 2020 general election, the country’s justice minister said on Tuesday.

he referendum was among the promises made by Prime Minster Jacinda Ardern’s Labour Party in a 2017 agreement that led to a coalition government with the Green and NZ First parties.

The coalition of populist, centrist and leftist parties ended the nine-year rule of the conservative National Party.

“The Cabinet decision is that it (the referendum) will be held at the 2020 general election, the agreement is that it will be binding,” Justice Minister Andrew Little told reporters.

A “yes” vote would make New Zealand the first Asia Pacific country to allow recreational use of marijuana in a region where it is widely prohibited.

Canada, European nations such as the Netherlands and Spain, and certain U.S. states have already legalized recreational use.

I think it's silly to hold a vote for it. The only time politicians do that is when they don 't want to take responsibility for whatever the result is. But I'm sure they have statistics of those in favour already, and it's a politicians job to have their pulse on the people. I always thought that New Zealand was the closest thing to Canada in terms of culture and politics, so why not do what Canada did? Let the political parties state their positions, and let the people decide legalization by voting for the best platform. Trudeau in Canada made it clear during his election campaign that prohibition was hurting society and it must be legalized. People who agreed voted for him. He won a solid majority, and now weed is legal here. New Zealand politicians should do the same.