The Opportunities Party launches cannabis reform policy

The Opportunities Party is pleased to launch its REAL DEAL Policy for the regulation of cannabis cultivation and sale in New Zealand.

The central aim of the policy is to reduce harm from Cannabis use throughout New Zealand.

With Prohibition of Cannabis clearly an abject failure the REAL DEAL will take tens of millions of dollars in profits away from gangs and organised crime and use that money for drug education, addiction treatment and harm prevention.

TOP isn’t promoting cannabis use, it’s recognising the reality of New Zealand life today where 1 in 9 of all people have used cannabis in the past year and 1 in 4 of our 15-24 year olds have.

Right now, most of those people have to source their cannabis from career criminals who use the profits and customers to engage in further criminal activity.

TOP’s research suggests we can take $150m away from the criminals and use it to prevent harm in our communities. Police and justice resources will be freed up to deal with more serious crime and local communities will have a real say in how the new laws are administered.

Unlicensed cultivation and dealing will still be a crime but with regulated and taxable retail trade and two plants per person personal use allowance the criminals will find their multimillion dollar black-market dries up overnight.

The Opportunities Party REAL DEAL Cannabis reform policy

The Opportunities Party has launched its REAL DEAL Policy for the regulation of cannabis cultivation and sale in New Zealand. With Prohibition of Cannabis clearly an abject failure the REAL DEAL will take tens of millions of dollars in profits away from gangs and organised crime and use that money for drug education, addiction treatment and harm prevention.

Posted by Kiwi Cannasseur on Thursday, 18 May 2017

The Opportunities Party will:

• License suppliers and manufacturers to encourage small scale regional supply, and regulate the potency of supply.
• Use a tax (based on THC potency) and minimum price to ensure the price doesn’t fall as it did in Colorado.
• Allow retail sales only through Cannabis Licensing Trusts (local charities) or a Government online store. It will not be sold in the same outlets as alcohol.
• Ensure the placement of retail outlets (if any) will be subject to local authority regulation.
• Use revenue generated by the tax and profits of the Trusts (estimated at $150m) for education, after school projects for youth, treatment of addiction for all drugs and regulation to control demand.
• Allow home growing of up to 2 plants.
• Set the legal age of purchase & use at 20 and ensure education campaigns discourage use until 25.

More information - www.top.org.nz/top8