A new report from the New Zealand Drug Foundation is calling for the total decriminalisation of illicit drugs.
They say running drug users through the criminal justice system has exacerbated addiction, overdoses and deaths, and it was time to change New Zealand's fifty-year-old Misuse of Drugs Act to focus on a health-support response.
But in 2020, New Zealanders rejected decriminalising cannabis at the polling booth - is there the appetite for such a huge, cultural change to be made?
Professor Joe Boden is a professor in psychological medicine at the University of Otago and the principal researcher in the Christchurch Health and Development Study, which has tracked New Zealanders' drug use habits.
A bag of methamphetamine seized by police at one of the Ashburton properties. Photo: Supplied/ Police
