Kaupapa Māori

Kākahungia te tangata ki te aroha, kaua ki te whakawhiu
Our people need a cloak of support and care, not punishment and stigma

More than for any other group, drug law reform is a big issue for tangata whenua. Most Māori have seen the human cost of our bad drug law first-hand and it’s a sad truth that the people most harmed by prohibition are Māori, young and male.

A cannabis conviction is extremely damaging. It can set a young person back for life – and for what? Not only is a criminal justice approach actively harmful but prohibition doesn’t address any of the health concerns that whānau raise with us about rangatahi using cannabis. In fact, it has made health outcomes worse by creating stigma and making it harder for those who need it to access treatment.

This needs to change. Drug law reform should be about true and enduring justice for the people who are the survivors of the war on drugs. In Aotearoa that means ensuring that Māori voices, and solutions, are at the forefront of conversations about drug law reform.

Call to action: Transforming Māori outcomes through regulating cannabis

Regulating cannabis should be about achieving equity and justice. In Aotearoa, that means ensuring that regulations are designed with and by Māori, under a Te Tiriti o Waitangi framework, and that they work to promote the mana motuhake of hapū and iwi Māori. In November 2019 we joined over 50 leading Māori health and public health organisations to call for the crown to put Māori rights and interests front and centre of all proposed cannabis regulations. Read More

This statement draws on the expertise of more than 50 Māori leaders, in a call to action to ensure that Māori outcomes are improved if cannabis is legalised after the 2020 referendum.

Kaupapa Māori statement on draft cannabis law Nov 2019 ( PDF 195kb )

Drug law reform should be about true and enduring justice for the people who are the survivors of the war on drugs. In Aotearoa that means ensuring that Māori voices, and solutions, are at the forefront of conversations about drug law reform.

In Taking Control of Cannabis, published in September 2019 ahead of the 2020 cannabis referendum, we outlined three principles that should guide the Government’s work to uphold and promote Māori rights and interests. These principles still stand, even though regulation of cannabis was narrowly voted against.

Actively uphold the Crown’s fundamental obligations to Māori under te Tiriti o Waitangi and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This means ensuring whānau, hapū and iwi Māori are engaged at each point in the development of the regulations in a process of co-design. A kaupapa Māori agency with a broad mandate should be established to lead this on behalf of Māori.
Recognise that legalisation must be about righting the wrongs of the past and empowering and supporting the people who have suffered disproportionate harms under prohibition.
Ensure the regulatory model is designed to promote mana motuhake, mana tangata and hauora Māori across the areas of health, justice and economic development.

Māori are unfairly carrying the burden of drug harm in Aotearoa, being more likely to suffer harm from drug use but less likely to be able to access health treatment.

Cannabis use amongst Māori has increased in the past seven years. In 2018/19, 32 percent of Māori used cannabis in the past year, compared to 21 percent 2011/12. Among cannabis users, Māori are nearly twice as likely to report legal problems from their use.

Māori and Pacific people are more likely to want help for their alcohol and drug use but not receive it. To eliminate these inequities, kaupapa Māori services, iwi-based services and whānau support need to be properly funded.

Most New Zealanders use alcohol and other drugs, but Māori are more likely to be convicted than any other group. Despite making up 17 percent of our population, in 2021, Māori made up 48 percent of those who received drug convictions. In this same year, 0.17% of the Māori population received a conviction for a low-level drug offence, compared to 0.04% of the European population.

According to the Safe and Effective Justice Advisory Group, Māori are 5.7 times more likely than other New Zealanders to have contact with Police. This is where the disproportionate outcome appears to stem from, with significantly more Māori being ‘policed’ than non-Māori.

Drug-related deaths for Māori are three times the rate for non-Māori
Wāhine Māori are 3.6 times more likely to smoke daily than non-Māori women and are 2.7 times more likely to use amphetamines.
Māori make up 48% of those convicted for drug possession offences and 61.9% of those sentenced to prison for these offences.

If more Māori come into contact with the system than non-Māori, this will lead to disproportionate outcomes. The over-representation of Māori in the statistics compounds as they move through the justice system - 61.9% of those sentenced to prison with drug possession offences are Māori.