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Photos: Getty Images
Photos: Getty Images

PoliticsNovember 12, 2020

As NZ said no to cannabis, Americans voted in sweeping drug law reform

Photos: Getty Images
Photos: Getty Images

Soon after the proposed cannabis bill failed to gain majority support at referendum here, several conservative US states voted to legalise cannabis and decriminalise other drugs. So why is our supposedly progressive nation afraid of drug law reform? 

Americans may have been divided on a preferred president, but they were far more united in their support for drug law reform. Last week, just as it was confirmed New Zealand’s cannabis law reform referendum had narrowly failed, many US states legalised cannabis and decriminalised a whole range of hard drugs. In fact, every state where cannabis legalisation or illegal drug decriminalisation was proposed, it passed, showing overwhelming support for progressive drug reform.

Oregon became the first US state to decriminalise all illegal drugs, while the citizens of Washington, D.C., voted to decriminalise psilocybin, the organic compound active in psychedelic mushrooms. New Jersey, South Dakota, Montana and Arizona legalised recreational cannabis, bringing the number of states that have done so to 15. Aside from New Jersey, these states usually lean conservative, so it may come as a surprise to see them ahead of Aotearoa in progressive cannabis reform. 

“There’s certainly a streak of caution in New Zealand,” says Kathy Errington from the Helen Clark Foundation, which campaigned for a yes vote in the referendum, when asked for her thoughts on why it failed. 

A poster promoting a ‘yes’ vote in the cannabis referendum in Hamilton in October (Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Newsroom via Getty Images)

Public support for cannabis legalisation in the US, however, had been steadily growing since the 1990s, according to a 2018 report from the Pew Research Centre. The recession and civil unrest of 2020 only boosted the cause, as both issues neatly align with two main incentives for legalisation: legal cannabis has the potential to bring financial benefits, and cannabis reform will improve social justice.

For Covid-hit economies the world over, the cannabis industry’s potential economic gain is more relevant than ever, and the issue is felt particularly keenly in the US, which entered recession in February. But in New Zealand’s “yes”campaign, the financial incentives were not pushed nearly as much as they were in the US, says Massey University drug policy researcher Marta Rychert.

“In the US the emphasis has been on the economic arguments; on creation of jobs, taxes, that we’re going to improve the economy. That has been principally the main argument in the US, which worked for them.”

Even if those potential benefits had been pushed harder in New Zealand, Rychert doesn’t believe it would have been as effective here as in the US, as we’re less focused on financial benefits. “I don’t think the economic argument would really work with the New Zealand public, because we’re a different country – even our response to coronavirus has been more focused on our communities and social justice and so on.”



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The economic focus doesn’t mean social and racial justice didn’t also play a big part in the US referendums, particularly in Oregon, which voted to decriminalise all illegal drugs. Since President Nixon declared war on drugs in 1971, and Reagan upped the ante in the 1980s, imposing increasingly draconian penalties for drug use, the disproportionate impact on the Black and Latino communities has been marked. A report from August this year showed racial disparities in drug arrests would drop by 95% if Oregon voted yes. 

The global 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, which the New York Times described as potentially the biggest movement in US history, successfully shone a light on American and international racial inequality. This gave context to the drug debate and helped many American voters to see the existing criminalised drug laws in relation to systemic racism. 

But Rychert says social reform is a more complicated and contestable argument than the relatively straightforward economic benefits. Some New Zealand voters in particular were unsure that legalisation (or decriminalisation) would actually help minority communities, she says. 

“The public may have had some kind of reservations: is it really going to ensure the wellbeing of communities? How are we going to make sure Māori actually benefit from this reform? [But] there were a number of provisions in the Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill to cover that.”

Rychert says legalising cannabis to achieve social justice is complicated, because the country or state must also address surrounding social issues, such as housing and reducing unemployment. Portugal, for example, decriminalised drugs in the year 2000, and has spent 20 years proving it can be successful by ensuring the law is supplemented with wider social justice reform, she says. 

Portugal’s policy offers users “an opportunity to receive help in terms of their health and potential addiction, if there is any – because not all drug use is associated with problems”. She says Oregon must follow Portugal in treating drug use as a health issue. “It’s a good policy.”

But the the success of a progressive drug policy like those in Oregon and Portugal depends on how the law is implemented, adds Rychert. If New Zealand ever reaches the point of considering decriminalising hard drugs, it would have to address this too.

Errington says drug reform policies must be coupled with better addiction treatment systems and law-enforcement training on how to police legal or decriminalised substances, rather than focusing on possession arrests.

“You’ve got to do a whole bunch of things differently to have a progressive drug policy. Just legalisation isn’t enough… it’s something that a significant part of the population is doing regularly, so straight banning that thing is a recipe for disaster.

“You want some controls around that substance once you legalise it, so you’re not just throwing it open.”

Keep going!
Judith Collins and her pre-reshuffle caucus at a press conference at parliament on October 20 (Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Newsroom via Getty Images)
Judith Collins and her pre-reshuffle caucus at a press conference at parliament on October 20 (Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Newsroom via Getty Images)

PoliticsNovember 12, 2020

Ten eyebrow-raising decisions from Judith Collins’ caucus shake-up

Judith Collins and her pre-reshuffle caucus at a press conference at parliament on October 20 (Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Newsroom via Getty Images)
Judith Collins and her pre-reshuffle caucus at a press conference at parliament on October 20 (Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Newsroom via Getty Images)

The opposition leader appointed her shadow cabinet yesterday, and in doing so made some unexpected choices. Here are 10 Justin Giovannetti is pondering.

Judith Collins has put her stamp on the National Party with a new shadow cabinet that breaks with her predecessors. With a small caucus of only 33, Collins has given each of her MPs a job for the coming years. Some have seen their fortunes rise while others have plummeted, and a few are just hard to explain.

Tālofa at the top

Owing to the lack of Pasifika MPs in National, with Alfred Ngaro and Fonoti Agnes Loheni both losing their seats, Collins made herself the spokesperson for Pacific peoples. If you weren’t paying attention during the campaign, Collins once quipped “my husband is Sāmoan, so tālofa”. She eventually owned it and bought a “so tālofa” mug. She also quite angrily told Jacinda Ardern during a debate, “don’t disrespect Sāmoa”. The love shown for New Zealand’s Pacific neighbours isn’t going anywhere.

For the love of tech

Sometimes during political campaigns leaders hit up a campaign stop they can’t forget. For Judith Collins, that was tech. It’s not clear which of her technology stops got to her, but at one point during the campaign Collins decided that technology and artificial intelligence were going to save the country’s economy. Tech got added to her stump speech. She loves tech, she’d make clear, at stops nowhere near anything with a processor chip in it. Now, she’s the spokesperson for technology, manufacturing and artificial intelligence.

Andrew Bayly

Good Dr Shane Reti is the party’s deputy leader, health spokesperson and point man on children. That was expected. Number three on the list? Andrew Bayly. He skyrocketed up 14 slots in the caucus rankings. 

An accountant, banker and corporate director before entering politics, Bayly has been in parliament since 2014. Apart from a private member’s bill giving landlords more power to deal with meth, he hasn’t made much of a splash. He’s now been put in charge of the party’s economic portfolio with the newly created title of shadow treasurer. Collins has called the “jobs crisis” this generation’s nuclear moment, so the pressure will be on Bayly.

One career rescued

Michael Woodhouse had been National’s health spokesman for much of the Covid-19 response. His speeches in the house about failings at managed isolation were a daily spectacle. He brought to light real problems, as well as tales of a homeless man who snuck in and lived in the splendour of free five-star accommodation, which turned out to be not quite as he claimed. He was largely responsible for the critical tone National adopted around Covid that put off some New Zealanders. 

Woodhouse was stripped of the health portfolio in July when it was revealed he had received private patient data from former National boss Michelle Boag. The government announced a probe into the data breach while Woodhouse never told his party’s leader or health officials that Boag was sending the data around. He deleted the data and eventually told his party he’d had it all along.

Nearly four months later, Woodhouse was promoted to number four on the party’s list and made finance spokesperson. Bayly and Woodhouse are now expected to work together as the party’s finance brains. “They are quite joined at the hip, they get on together,” Collins told reporters today as the two men pantomimed being stuck together. “They are quite a powerhouse.”



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Finance jobs

National has decided to split the finance role into two, following the treasurer-finance minister model once used by the party in government in the 1990s and apparently popular in Australia. Finance minister Grant Robertson has been put at the head of a finance team in cabinet, but he’s not splitting the ministry with anyone else. Bayly, as the higher-ranked MP in caucus, will be the one to take on Robertson in the house.

Another career destroyed

There are quite a few National MPs who’ve gone home today with a bag of coal.

Paul Goldsmith, the party’s finance whiz who ended up with a several-billion-dollar hole in the party’s fiscal plan during the campaign, has been demoted. From number three in caucus, he’s now 12. Where nearly everyone has several jobs, Goldsmith is now the education spokesman.

Old leaders not needed

Simon Bridges had been given the foreign affairs job before the election and a comfortable position at number four in caucus. Despite being fired by caucus, his experience and yak-fuelled charisma seemed to point to an ongoing future in the party. That future is over. He’s now number seven, holding the justice portfolio, water, and Māori-Crown relations. 

Todd Muller, the man who rolled Bridges, has fared worse. Four months ago the entire National Party told the country this man was going to be prime minister. Now he’s slipped to number 19 in the caucus list and is in charge of trade, export growth and internal affairs.

According to Collins’ view of the world, Barbara Kuriger is now more important to the National Party than Todd Muller. Who is that? That’s a good question.

Two more who have tumbled 

Gerry Brownlee was Collins’ first deputy leader and ran the party’s unsuccessful campaign. During her debate in Christchurch, Collins made good use of her deputy as a source of ringside support and some humour. Brownlee lost his electorate of Ilam after a quarter century, stood down as deputy leader and has dropped 13 slots in caucus. He’s now the foreign affairs critic. Ranked above him in importance is the spokesperson for broadcasting and media, Melissa Lee, who jumped seven positions.

Nick Smith dropped to 23rd place in caucus. A former minister who served in the cabinets of Jenny Shipley, John Key and Bill English, he has been in Parliament since 1990. Smith lost the Nelson electorate and got into parliament on the party list. He’s now the spokesperson for research, science and electoral reform.

There were questions after election night about whether Brownlee and Smith would stay on after losing their once solidly blue electorates. Both could have stepped down and allowed younger MPs to enter a caucus with little fresh talent. They both decided to stay on and will now be in the back bench somewhere.

The roads man

National announced a lot of road projects during their election campaign. Many, many road projects. The man behind that was Chris Bishop. The Lower Hutt-based MP was the party’s energetic transport guru, a fan of roads and other modes of transportation. No good deed goes unpunished. He’s now the head of the Covid-19 response at number eight in caucus. With the virus spreading around the world, he’s sure to have a busy time.

Keep your friends close and your enemies… further away

Christopher Luxon, the former head of Air New Zealand and long-rumoured next leader of the National Party, has been slotted in at number 30 in the caucus list. Collins is taking no risks. For the first time in his life, Luxon will be sitting in the cheap seats once parliament convenes. He’ll need binoculars and a portable radio to hear the proceedings from the speaker’s chair.

He’s been put in the low-pressure job of local government and associate transport critic. Luxon has also been put in charge of the newly created position of iwi development. It’s unclear what he’ll do there. However, when he was the head of Air NZ, Luxon tried to trademark “Kia Ora” and banned the wearing of visible tā moko by staff. To his credit, the ban was lifted as Luxon was leaving the chief executive’s office.

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