MOST PEOPLE SAY NO TO CANNABIS LAW CHANGE

Nearly two-thirds of people oppose legalising cannabis and a similar number
say they have never smoked the drug, a New Zealand Herald-DigiPoll survey
shows.

As politicians debate whether the legal status of cannabis should be
reviewed, the poll of 663 people showed 61.8 per cent did not want people
to be able to legally grow or buy the drug for their own use.

A total of 29.6 per cent supported the move, 8 per cent were not sure and
0.6 per cent refuse to answer the question.

Of those surveyed who identified their political leanings, the strongest
opposition in the poll came from National (70.5 per cent) and Act (63 per
cent) voters.

More men (36 per cent) than women (23.7 per cent) favoured legalisation;
and support was stronger in the 18-39 age group (35) than among those aged
40 and over (25.2).

Maori and Pacific Islanders, at 40 per cent and 38.9 per cent, recorded the
highest support for legalisation.

By household income, those most in favour were the top income earners (more
than $67,000) at 39.8 per cent, followed by the $19,000 to $28,000 bracket
(30.8).

Support for legalising cannabis was strongest among New Zealand First
voters, at 45 per cent, albeit from a smaller sample, followed by Alliance
voters (36.1), Act (33.3), Labour (32.8) and National (24.6).

On the cannabis use question, those polled were asked to put themselves
into five categories.

A total of 59.3 per cent said they had never used the drug and never would;
3.3 per cent said they had never used it but would try it if it were not
illegal; 23.8 per cent said they had used it occasionally (two to three
times); 8.7 per cent said they used it from time to time; and 2.7 per cent
used it regularly.

Among the regular users there were more Maori than European (7.7 per cent
compared to 2.2 per cent), more aged 18 to 39 than over 40 (4.6 to 1.1) and
more men (4.1) than women (1.5).

The margin of error was 3.8 per cent.

The National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws said the poll
results would be skewed by people not wanting to admit their use of an
illegal drug.

Spokesman Chris Fowlie said the question asked also might have affected the
result. Other polls that had asked whether the use of cannabis should be
decriminalised has shown clear support for the move.

The 30 per cent who favoured legalisation in the DigiPoll survey was still
a sizeable chunk of the population, and showed the issue should be
seriously debated in Parliament, said Mr Fowlie.

A select committee last week recommended that the Government should review
cannabis policy, after concluding that the effects of the drug on mental
health had been overstated and moderate use did not harm most people.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski