- On Election Day 2020, we will vote on whether recreational cannabis should become legal in New Zealand. Last year, I explored the world of cannabis. Yeah, no, I'm OK, actually. - All right. - Here's your weed. - Ooh. - But since then, the government has released the draft bill on what New Zealand with legalised weed would look like. - The benefit of a controlled, regulated market is you know what you're getting. - If I did get legal, great. If I don't, well, I'm still gonna keep going, Paddy. - I'll look at reasons to vote no... - We know that it can cause paranoia, depression, anxiety. - How old were you when you took the drug? - ...and reasons to vote yes. - It can help our country. - And I'm going to test the THC levels of cannabis in the illegal market. - So, if you look under here... - How strong is our weed? So, holding something like that, you're breaking the new law 100 times over. - Oh, absolutely. - Good grief. OK. All right. I haven't heard of THC levels that high. - I'll give you the information you need on whether we should legalise weed in New Zealand. What will you decide? www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2020 - This is a COVID-19 announcement. - COVID-19 has been a rough time, but social distancing did provide one bit of weed humour as we left Level 4 lockdown. - People, for instance, will be at the movies, but they'll all be spaced out. People might go to a show, but they will be spaced out. - Wow. With our borders closed, the closest I can get to legal recreational weed is virtual. (SNIFFS) If New Zealand voted yes to legalising recreational cannabis, we would be just the third country in the world to do so. Uruguay was the first and is heavily regulated. Registered users can buy just 10g a week of limited-strength weed from just a few pharmacies. Canada is more liberal. You can have incredibly strong weed, use cannabis edibles and drinks and buy an ounce ` that's 30g ` every day. The new proposed law puts us somewhere in the middle. But what is New Zealand like right now? Last year, in Los Angeles, I attended a cannabis tea party, where I got high legally just for fun. Choo-choo! (LAUGHTER) Despite that being against the law here, I'm all dressed up for a lift from Weed Wahine, who's going to take me to a highly illegal dinner party. - Hello. - Weed Wahine? - Weed Wahine. - (CHUCKLES) So, yeah, I don't really even know where to start this conversation, but this is something to look forward to, I think. - Yeah. The chef house smells really delicious. - The chef's house? - Yeah. - More than 300,000 Kiwis use weed regularly, but the group I'm about to meet would best be described as enthusiasts. This isn't their first cannabis-infused dinner. Chef ` the chef. Yeah. - How you doing, Paddy? - As they say, what's on the menu? - Well, tonight, Paddy, I've got three courses for us tonight. We've got some here for you that are non-infused, been labelled, separated. - My food will be missing the main ingredient. - Cannabis and cooking pretty much go hand-in-hand. It's a way for people to ingest the medicine without smoking it, if they choose not to smoke it. - 'A lot was being ingested tonight. 'The chef has a bucket of cannabis concentrate that can be added to anything.' That's green and dark. I mean, you put a lot of weed in there, haven't you? And in the fridge, even more weed. - Here we've got gummies. Everywhere, mate. I've got moulds. - You got moulds? - Yeah. - Oh, so, you've actually got quite a few moulds. What's that one? That's the Millennium Falcon. - That's the one. That's the one. - 'Under the proposed new law, 'edible products that may appeal to children, like gummies, will not be allowed.' You've made them pretty easy. - Fairly simple for any chef to make. - So what do you think of the government law, then, that even if it is legal, these won't be? - I see what they get the angle of it ` safe for children. I guess, if you package anything right and label everything discretely... You know? - Cos they're popular, aren't they? - Well, they are very popular. It's the most asked item I get asked about is the gummies. - 'The chef will still be allowed to make these at home under the proposed law, 'but you just won't be allowed to buy them from licensed retailers.' I hope we are gonna` I hope we are gonna have some laughs here. Will you get the giggles? - Yeah, totally. - Do we get the giggles at these things? Yeah. (CHUCKLES) - Some mean laughs. - House guests first. - Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. - Non-infused. - Yeah, what have we got here tonight? - Tonight, we've got some apple puree with some lemon-poached prawns and blowtorched scallops. - My meal is a more traditional weed-free offering, but my table mates are definitely ingesting cannabis. What are they like with all that weed on it? - A light buzz goin' on. - Light buzz. (CHUCKLES) You guys will be voting yes to legalise weed, I take it? - Hell yeah. - 100%, for sure. - What's the most important thing about actually getting it out in the open? - I see it as part of our lifestyles. We all work, we study, or we're parents, you know? As well as that, we enjoy cannabis. - 'And with a yes vote in the referendum, 'you would be free to make and eat all of this cannabis-infused food in your own home.' That's what I call a feed. - It's so good. I'm scared I'm gonna get too stoned. The guests finish the evening with a cannabis-based dessert and some super-strength after-dinner dabs. - Most cannabis parties finish within two to three hours. - Mm. Tonight showed me that pretty much everything I'd seen in the States is already here in New Zealand. - Most cannabis parties finish within two to three hours. - Mm. What's this? - Yeah, looks like some gummies. - So, this is how you make weed chocolate? - Yes. - These are the moulds? - One dab is like smoking a whole joint in one hit. - Of course, the difference in New Zealand is all this recreational cannabis is currently illegal, and the main reason for that is THC. It's one of 400 compounds in the cannabis plant and the most notorious. THC is psychoactive; it's the bit that makes you feel high. (GIGGLES) The proposed New Zealand legislation suggests a 15% limit on THC in the cannabis you buy. But in places in the States and Canada, people are taking the plant and turning it into an incredibly strong extract ` a dab. And I'd heard of someone in New Zealand calling himself the Dab Chemist who was making an extract known as 'diamonds'. There's all sorts of diamonds in here. It's like a kaleidoscope. - (MEN CHUCKLE) - So that's` that's why you call` - That's a cluster. - That's why you call them diamonds. - Yes, that's why you call them diamonds. - Yeah, now I see. No, there's diamonds all around. - Yeah. - 'Concentrated cannabis resin is put through various processes to form a crystal ` diamonds.' - (MAN CHUCKLES) - Fuck yeah. That's what we do. - You like it? You like it? You like it? - I love it. I love it. I love it. This is... This is my life. This is it. - You're very proud. - Oh... It's been a long way to get to this point. It's been a long, long way. - You've got tears in your eyes right now. - (CHUCKLES) - Something to be proud of, man. Definitely. - I'd seen legal cannabis extracts in Colorado, but now I have proof it's already here in our illegal market. - We're streets ahead of where anybody thought we were. - We're right there. - And how much does this sell for on the black market? - We're looking at round about $140, $160 a gram. - How many people are making diamonds in New Zealand right now? One? - As far as I'm aware, yes. - 'The diamond-making process moves the cannabis 'from a Class C drug into Class B, alongside drugs like ecstasy.' A lot of people are gonna watch this and go, 'This is serious.' - We are serious. - We are serious. - The proposed New Zealand limit for cannabis bud is 15%, but diamond extract can be up to 99% THC. If the proposed law goes ahead, this will still be very illegal. The law is behind it, always. - It has been for 4000 years. - So, holding something like that, you're breaking the new law 100 times over. - Oh, absolutely. (CHUCKLES) - If the law changes, if the law doesn't change, if weed becomes legal, weed stays illegal, what are you gonna do? - This. - Keep goin'. - This. - I wanna take them away to test them. What do you think we've got here? What am I holding in my hand? - Minimum 85. - 85%. On those diamonds. - I'm going to find out the THC level of cannabis from all around the country. Could this be the strongest stuff around? - (COUGHS, GRUNTS) I tell you what... Whoo! That's good. (LAUGHS) - New Zealand outlawed cannabis in 1927. Medical cannabis followed in 1965. But three years ago, medical cannabis was back, limited to a couple of imported products with a prescription. And last year, 20 Kiwi companies were allowed to start research. In April this year, the country was opened up to the commercial cultivation, manufacture and distribution of medical cannabis. It still needs to hit the shelves, but medical cannabis is here. Helius is a market leader, and things were a lot more serious since the last time I visited. Has a lot changed? - Yeah, it has actually. Well, we're semi-operational now. - I can smell it a little bit. - Yeah, that's right. - That's a big difference. - Right. - Helius is really gearing up. Much of the place is a building site for a big operation. - This was obviously a big empty warehouse when you came here last time. - Yeah. - You might remember last time you were here, this room was completely empty. - Great! - And, uh, now it's all plants. - Legal weed? - Yep. - It's here. - It's growing, and this is just the beginning. - It's just amazing to see legal weed here in New Zealand. - It almost felt a bit naughty at the beginning, like we weren't meant to be doing it, even though we were fully licensed. - The only weed I've seen up until this point in New Zealand has been 100% illegal, but now with medical cannabis legal, so is this crop. This is all for medicine? - 100% for medicine. - There's so much confusion out there. People, kind of, don't realise that medicinal cannabis is actually legal. Do you find that? - Yeah, we find it. It's not a week goes by where somebody asks us, 'What are you gonna do if the referendum doesn't pass?' And of course, we don't need the referendum to pass to make medicinal cannabis. That happened in April this year. - So all of this can keep growing no matter what happens in the vote. - That's right. - With medical cannabis already legal, the referendum vote is all about whether recreational should become legal too. So I want to find out ` what are some of the risks associated with weed use? - When you have marijuana for breakfast before you go to work, marijuana at lunchtime and marijuana after work, they were black days, no doubt about it. - Recreational cannabis has been legal in Canada since 2018, and last year, I observed a 'bud crawl' ` a bar crawl with cannabis. - All right, guys, welcome to Vancouver. How's everybody feeling? - Whoo. Yeah. - (CHEERING) - Ready to explore some cannabis? - Yeah. The referendum will be a vote on whether or not we think recreational cannabis use should be legal. Our proposed legislation is very influenced by Canada. Across most Canadian provinces, the age limit is 19. You can grow four plants per household and be in possession of up to 30g of cannabis ` just over an ounce. (PERCUSSIVE MUSIC) In New Zealand, the age limit would be 20. Like Canada, there would be a maximum of four plants per household, but possession in public would be halved to 14g ` half an ounce. And that's also the daily purchase limit. I wanted to see what that would look like, and Helius had the weed and the scales. Quite a lot for a day. - There you go. There's... That could be it. (PERCUSSIVE MUSIC CONTINUES) - Right there's your daily limit in New Zealand. - That's it. - But it's quite a lot to have on your own. And that might be the point ` that people can access enough that they don't turn to the illegal market. Very few people would smoke this much in one day, let alone a week. But I knew someone who would give it a crack. - Hey, Paddy! - I met Jay last year when he was very worried about the state of tinnies on the illegal market. - So, I mean, the price has stayed the same. It's the size that's dropped down. - Jay no longer sells. He has a family on the way and works for a wage, but he still grows for personal use. - Down here was where I had quite a good plantation. This tree here decided to come down. They had the chainsaw guys come in. They seen them. They come knocked on my door, asked me, 'Would you like 20 minutes to move them?' I thought, you bloody good guys, and I bring them all up here. They were growing big. They were getting just up over the fence. And I come out one morning, and some bastard's stole them. - (CHUCKLES) - Yeah. - I'll tell you what... - Far out. - Well, these are the... - What a mess. - These are the problems with growing in town, mate. - I wanted to get my first sample of cannabis bud. Jay has grown a strain called G13, a famous strain said to have been liberated from a CIA lab in the '60s. - (COUGHS) This is pretty good weed, actually. - You want us to test this for you and find out how much THC you just took in? - I'll be surprised if it's some weirdly low number, cos it's getting me high as fuck. And I'd also like you to test my average bush and see what the quality of average bush is in New Zealand. - Jay is an everyday user of weed and has been smoking all his adult life. You've been getting stoned for a long time, haven't you? How many years of those 33 have you been getting stoned for? - Oh, started when I was 16. You do the math, cos I can't. I'm too high. - Yeah, well, that's 17 years. - Eh. I will say ` I probably should've started later in life, and I would've had a better memory. I do... say to the youth and that that definitely finish your schooling first and, you know, get your career out of the way before you go trying into weed. But, I mean, Captain Hindsight, eh? (CHUCKLES) - There is a risk of serious effects from smoking cannabis, especially on the developing brain, which is still being constructed until your mid-20s. The proposed legislation is trying to reduce harm, so the age limit is set at 20, and there are also plans to increase drug education. I'm joining some 11- and 12-year-olds learning about the effects of cannabis on the adolescent brain. - Have a look at this. What is it? Grace? - Cannabis? - Absolutely correct. That is the plant. But what is the drug? - Weed. - That's a nickname of the drug. Yeah, Lachie? - Meth? - Oh, completely different drug. Might be looking at that one another time. (CHUCKLES) - Marijuana? - Yeah, marijuana is the product. Here we've got... marijuana being sold in tinnies. This is actually the chemical, or the drug, in marijuana. THC is the drug... in marijuana. Yeah. Who's gonna have a go at reading that? Oh, look at all these volunteers. - Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol. - Yeah, well done. Pakipaki. - (CHILDREN APPLAUD) - My eagerness to impress has drawn the attention of my classmates. I'm now a target. - Are you OK if we ask a few questions? - Happy to take questions. - Have you used THC? - Yes. Yes, I have used THC. - How old were you when you, um, took the drug? - 'I couldn't lie to these kids. My dad, yes.' - Did you ever try it? - Oh, nah. I mean, uh... But a doctor's office in Denver was not the first time I had tried weed. - DOCUMENTARY NARRATOR: As you get older, the pressure to do something you may not want to do can get pretty strong. (UNEASY MUSIC) - Jay and I had a lot more in common than I thought. - Oh, I started when I was 16. You do the math. - I was... I was, um... Yeah, I was too young, you know? I was... like, I was 16 or something. - Oh. - Taking notes from my classmates, I decided to take the same question to the Minister of Justice, Andrew Little, who is in charge of the proposed legislation. People will see that I've actually been quite open. I've said, 'Look, I smoked it when I was 16.' And... when did you first smoke cannabis? - Uh, at university. I was a little older than 16. - Under 20? - Under 20, yeah. Young people's exposure to cannabis is pretty widespread. They might not be using it, but they'll know who to go to and where to get it. That is the reality of cannabis in New Zealand. So parents, adults are right to be concerned about the fact that it's out there. And that's, I guess, the choice that voters have to make is ` are we happy with the way things are at the moment where it's all kind of under cover of darkness, behind closed doors, don't really know what's going on? Or do we want to bring it out in the open and say, 'We know it's there, 'but we actually want to control it.' - In the first year after Canada legalised cannabis in 2018, a government survey found there was no increased use in those aged between 15 and 24. The world-leading Dunedin Longitudinal Study found that a small number of heavy users will have issues with cannabis. Marijuana Anonymous is for those that have problems. I'm Paddy. I'm not a marijuana addict, but I'm here to learn. - Well, thank you, Paddy. - Thank you. - MAN: I'm an addict. Once I take that first joint, I can't stop. - MAN: I didn't know I was addicted to marijuana. I was told it was non-addictive, but as soon as I tried it, I just wanted more. - MAN: Anything that affects my emotions, my spirit, to the extent that I want it again and again, I mean, it's the definition of an addict for me. Cannabis is laughingly called a 'soft drug', you know, but there's no soft drug for an addict. - Cannabis isn't everything it's cracked up to be. So it is seen as soft. It is seen as recreational. But it's not without its harms. And so the New Zealand Medical Association's position is that it should not be legalised. - It should not be legalised? - No. In terms of its psychological harms, we know that it can cause paranoia, depression, anxiety. But also we know that if you're at risk of developing particular psychoses ` the younger you are, the more likely you are to trigger a psychosis. - So basically, you're saying weed is bad for you. - Yeah. And the more you have, the worse it is. - MAN: Took me away from my family. Took me away from studying for a degree. - MAN: When you have marijuana for breakfast before you go to work, marijuana at lunchtime and marijuana after work... They were black days. That's... There's no doubt about it. - MAN: One of my dreams was to build an underground bunker and just be cut off from the world and just be able to smoke dope and nothing else. - Most people won't get addicted, but some people will use it problematically and in extreme cases will become addicted. Using young, using a lot and using stronger forms of cannabis increases these risks. You really don't like this plant. - I don't like what it can do. And I don't think we should be taking the risk of what it can do in this referendum. - ALL CHANT: ...keep comin' back. It's better than that. - Even though it's had an absolute prohibition for nearly 55 years, it's about accepting that, look, cannabis is around. It is uncontrolled. It's driven by criminals and the black market. Do we want to take some greater control of it so we can reduce the bad health effects, particularly access by young people, and for those who can use safely, let them use it safely? - And one of the biggest questions is ` what effect might the proposed law have for gangs? The cops are basically saying you deal weed. - Yeah, well, that's` that's crap. - Already on my trip through New Zealand, I have seen a lot of illegal cannabis ` from buds to Class B manufacturing of diamonds, gummies and concentrate, plus vapes, bongs and dab rigs. The country is riddled with weed. The proposed legislation wants to get weed out in the open and out of the hands of the illegal market and gangs. We all know gangs are behind P, but I want to know how heavily they are involved in cannabis. Then something caught my attention. - A Waikato gang linked to the fight against P has been named in a major police operation into the sale and supply of cannabis. - Property and shares worth nearly $2.5 million was seized and a gang leader and associate arrested. Two days after the bust, I headed down there. Jamie. - Paddy! - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - What are you doing in Ngaruawahia, mate? - I came here to see you. - Good to see you, mate. - Tribal Huk has been an oddity in New Zealand's gang scene. They've claimed they are anti-P, and they've been labelled the 'sandwich gang', spending a lot of time making sandwiches for the local schools. But they have been linked to violent crime, including a shooting and an axe attack on the main street. And the cops reckon they also sell weed. I'm here to talk about weed. - Well, let's talk about weed, Paddy. - Police have just laid some charges about over $2 million worth of ill-gotten gains due to cannabis. - What a lot of crap. - The cops are basically saying you deal weed. - Yeah, well, that's` that's crap. We've got business. As you can see, there's a firewood yard across that road. On the dope factor, I'll be honest now. Like we says in court ` that's why I got bail ` I had an ounce on me. I smoke dope. It's a crazy world. There's worser things around. - Is it a waste of time cops concentrating on weed when they should be concentrating on P? - Oh, yeah. Yeah. I think everyone knows the answer to that question, Paddy. They're wasting resources, and when they're really, um, losing the war. - Pop over. - I'm far from convinced that Tribal Huk aren't making money from weed right now. - Hey, come on, Paddy. I've got an axe for you, mate. - So Jamie takes me across the road to show me how he claims the gang makes its cash. Oh, yeah. Fair bit of wood, isn't there? - A lot of wood here, mate. We're proud of this place. - This is not a front for a weed operation? - You've gotta split the wood. - This is what everyone does. They have a conventional business, then they've got a weed business. And then the cops come and... - Nah, you gotta bloody work hard to do this job. (GRUNTS) That's how we make our money. Shall me and you chop a few metres? - Oh... - Let's go, mate. (CLACK!) - Jamie will have to convince the courts that he's not in the weed business. I met a local grower who said he had sold weed to Tribal Huk on many occasions. Do gangs run the show? - No, it's not run by the gangs. Maybe the meth is, but, nah, not the weed. You know, it's been around for that long. The amount of people that just grow it for themselves, you know, outweighs the gangs. - How long have you been growing weed for? - Oh, 40 years. - Any good? - Yeah. - (CHUCKLES) - I reckon I could make a good living out of it if it becomes legalised. - Would it be OK if I took one of your samples to test? - Yeah, for sure. Yeah. - This sample will help me build a picture of THC levels in New Zealand's illegal market. (CHUCKLES) You gave me plenty to test. - Oh, that's all right, yeah. - Yeah. Yeah. We'll wait and see what the scientists say. - Yeah. - Steve, a big-time recreational grower, let me into one of his rooms. He has 25 years of experience in the illicit cannabis industry and isn't part of any gang. Gangs ` do you worry about them? - No. Everyone thinks that the cannabis scene is run by gangs. It's not. It's run by growers like me. We run this industry. We are the suppliers. They are the dealers. - Steve considers himself an expert grower and claims to only grow what he calls chronic, the highest-quality weed. - They're more of the connoisseur strains. That's the chronic. When you smoke it, it's got a 'mmm'. It's a lot of planning, and the average cannabis grower will find it hard to do what I was doing, which was running mother rooms, running cloning rooms and flowering rooms. - What would legal weed mean to you? - I've run a cannabis business illegally. It was very successful. Why can't I do it in a legal sense? You legalise it; the taxes from cannabis can help our country. - A study for the government found it could get up to $1.5 billion from taxes and levies if legalisation wiped out the illicit market. Last year, I met Gandalf, a green fairy who grows and supplies medical and recreational cannabis directly to his customers. - (SNIFFS) Oh, I do love that. - Gandalf has not joined the legal medical cannabis industry. You smell good. Oh, jeez. This is all new. But you've expanded the office since I was last here. You've grown a lot more. - Well, I've had to to meet demand. - Are you gonna go straight? You're gonna come out into the open? - I'm wanting to, but their licensing fees and compliance costs are just astronomical. - Making pharmaceutical-grade cannabis can cost millions of dollars to meet standards, but the recreational cannabis industry would be more like food production, making it more affordable for a grower like Gandalf. - I mean, hey, if I did get legal, great. If I don't, well, I'm still gonna keep going, Paddy. - Well, we'll see what happens, I guess. But, uh,... what way are you gonna vote, mate? - Well, I'm not on the roll. (BOTH LAUGH) - Despite the illegality, Gandalf has over 1000 customers. I want to find out how much THC they are getting from Gandalf's weed. Big buds. Look at that one. The Justice Minister has a message for the growers like Steve and Gandalf if the legislation becomes law. - There are people who are good at growing. So come along and get a licence. Show us how good you are. Get a licence, make it legal, - The legislation also proposes that no company can have more than 20% of the market share and that you can only be a grower or a seller. You can't be both. - We don't want big cannabis. We don't want this to become profit on other people's misery in the way we do see with other substances. - Does the proposed bill give some people the chance to genuinely turn over a new leaf? - Cannabis should not be a reason to send anybody to jail. I know. I've done it. - Canada legalised recreational cannabis in 2018, and a year later, they allowed edibles. If we vote yes, the proposed bill will allow edibles to be introduced later on. But those that appeal to kids, like gummies, would be banned outright. Canopy Growth is the largest cannabis company in the world. Tweed is their recreational brand with a head office in an old Hershey's chocolate factory. Edibles are big in Canada, aren't they? - Yeah. When you look at any mature cannabis market, you're going to see product mix that's about 50% dried flower or some form of inhalable. Then the other 50% is made up of a whole mix. And so there's cannabis drinks. There's chocolates and gummies. There's topicals. That kind of makes up the other half of the product mix. - Tweed has 48 grow rooms in their facility which produce five harvests a year. And in honouring the factory's Hershey's origins, they produce 2.5 million cannabis-infused chocolate bars each year. New Zealand is really worried about edibles. - I mean, there's not very much difference between edibles and smoked cannabis. The effect on your body is very similar, and the duration of the effect is a little bit different. The onset time is a little bit different, and so don't take a little dose and then assume that since nothing happened in 10 minutes, you should take another one, because that's when you end up getting unintentionally high. - Canada's basic approach is to treat cannabis just like any other product. Don't over-regulate. If you ban things like gummy bear edibles, then the people will go to the only place you can buy them ` the illegal market. Is your goal to have it so available that it's on the shelves in supermarkets? - Our goal is to be a company that acknowledges that this is not a benign product. And so we've gotta treat it differently than we do T-shirts. But we should treat it a little bit more like we do wine. - What you can expect, and I think what the legislation clearly indicates, is that we are taking a very cautious approach. The market is not going to be flooded with a whole diverse range of products from day one, if we get that far. And then I would suspect, probably, you know, three to four years on, we'll start looking at edibles and giving authority for edibles to go on sale. - Recreational cannabis is legal in Uruguay, and they have cannabis social clubs where members can grow plants and smoke cannabis. In Canada, there are a few cannabis bars, but they all operate illegally. In New Zealand's proposed legislation, the plan is to have licensed premises where cannabis can be consumed, although smoking will only be allowed outdoors. The Daktory in Wellington is already giving this a go in a 100% illegal way. Dakta Green is an established cannabis activist. The Daktory was first set up in 2008 and has had a turbulent history. The latest incarnation was raided by the police last year, and Dakta was arrested. He's currently out on bail but unrepentant. I can smell 'dak' in here right now, Dakta. - That's because it is being consumed in here right now. - (SNIFFS) Yeah. The Daktory is well-equipped to accommodate hundreds of people. Look at the size of this place, Dakta. You've got big plans. - We'll have bean bags and couches and tables and chairs and could have bands playing, jugglers... - Jugglers? Jugglers? - Entertainment. - The proposed law will introduce licensed retailers and has strict rules around advertising and packaging. It will also prohibit online sales. But just like everything I saw overseas, New Zealand already has illegal online stores. At Dolly's Edibles, you can fill your cart with cannabis and have it sent to your door, although a person has been arrested in relation to this website. And while online sales won't be legal under the new laws, perhaps things could be different for Dakta Green. How much of your life have you spent in jail? - A total of about seven years actually incarcerated. - Wow. - Yeah, it's a commitment. - Dakta's facing jail time yet again. Yeah. And is that your... room? - That's my room. That's my space. - How old are you now? - I turned 70 in April. - How much longer are you gonna keep fighting? - You can't give up when we're right. Cannabis should not be a reason to send anybody to jail. I know; I've done it. It's a very poor reason to send somebody to jail. So we're gonna stop it. Look at that. Screeds and screeds. Permitting premises, selling, possessing. Oh! All cannabis. I tell you, with my record, that there is five to seven years. I'm in deep shit. Since filming, the Daktory has shut its doors until further notice. In the legal medical cannabis world, things are quite different. Last year, I visited Hikurangi Enterprises in Ruatoria, a medical cannabis company with some big plans. Oh, this looks like a great spot to buy cannabis! This is where I'd go, mate. They are still growing cannabis in Ruatoria but have let go of the woolshed. They now have a state-of-the-art facility in Gisborne and go by the name of Rua Bioscience. - This is our first shipment of export cannabis to our European market. - Legal cannabis. - Yeah. That's been the dream, that we could be providing legal income for our people back home. - It's providing jobs on the East Coast, including a life-changing one for Brandon, a former illegal grower who is now head grower at Rua. - You must be pretty bloody good. - (CHUCKLES) I am. - (BOTH LAUGH) - The freedom of, you know, not having to worry about what's coming... behind you, above you, if the chopper's gonna fly ` you know, all that sort of rubbish. You know, I can still grow it, (LAUGHS) and I get paid to do it. That's cool. That's so cool. - Legal medical cannabis has given Brandon a chance to go straight, and the legalisation of recreational cannabis could provide an estimated 5000 jobs, but perhaps there is an even bigger impact. In 2019, nearly half of the 3500 people convicted for cannabis offences were Maori, even though they make up just 17% of the population. A yes vote would do what? - Yes vote puts us clearly in the camp that every citizen in New Zealand ` not just Pakeha, Paddy; not just university students whose parents can pay the big donation to a drug prevention programme if they're court; not just police that will choose to treat you differently from me... It would make it formally unlawful for them to do anything other than, 'You're just using cannabis; on your bike. You're off.' - While it might address inequality in law enforcement, the proposed bill does not cover two big concerns for voters ` drug-driving and cannabis in the workplace. - The work stuff ` we can regulate that, and we will regulate that, more stringently. - Yeah, so do you need new laws to do that? - We do need some consistent regulation of that so employers know with confidence what their rights are; workers know with confidence what the rules are, what they can and can't do. On the driving stuff, we are about to introduce roadside saliva-based testing ` the quickest way you can do it ` and we'll be much more stringent about that. - The cannabis hemp industry has its own rules, but CookieTime founder Michael Mayell thinks the legalisation of recreational cannabis could open the industry up further. - So, the fundamental difference is that cannabis hemp has 0.3% or less THC, which means that you can't get high from it. So, two years ago,... - But how` - ...it was illegal to have this food in New Zealand. Everything on this table is cannabis hemp ` impossible to get high. It's just a vegetable. Cannabis hemp is still listed in the Misuse of Drugs Act. - Some uses of hemp are still illegal, and Michael believes it's holding back an industry worth billions of dollars. CookieTime sales would probably go up under legalisation as well, cos everyone's gonna get the munchies. - Right. Well, who knows? - Legalisation could also open up CBD, the second most famous cannabis compound next to THC. It is non-psychoactive and can't get you high. Currently, it is illegal to produce CBD in New Zealand without a medical cannabis licence. Evidence suggests CBD may be helpful with sleep, anxiety and pain. In the UK, where cannabis is illegal, CBD is seen as a food supplement rather than a medicine. Former All Black Ben Franks, based in Wales, is a convert and now even runs his own CBD business. How did you come across CBD? - I got a concussion in a game. CBD was being trialled by the military for people suffering from concussion from bomb blasts. - Wow. - Straight from the get-go, had good results. Yep, so, that's the oil. And then I just` An hour before bed, I just take it under the tongue. - You've got the medical side of the market; you've got the recreational side of the market. In between sits CBD, which has no THC in it. And, in fact, many people say CBD is like a vitamin, but at the moment, you can't buy it over the counter. What is the Government's plans for CBD? - Uh, well, that's an interesting point. We don't have any plans for CBD. That's an interesting point that you make, and that might be a future debate and future regulation. If there is a yes vote to legalise recreational cannabis in the referendum, weed doesn't automatically become legal. The party that wins the election then has to choose to introduce the bill, and it goes through the usual process, including public submissions ` and perhaps CBD would be brought into the bill at that stage, or maybe the THC limits will be changed from the suggested 15%. But right now, we need to know the strength of what is currently out there. You've got some results for me? - I have got some results for you. Only two companies are licenced by the government to grow cannabis. Sold in 5g bags, there are only two dried cannabis products available to consumers. The scheme was started by the legendary former Uruguay president Jose 'Pepe' Mujica, an imprisoned guerrilla fighter turned politician. Presidente Mujica. Can I call you Pepe? Do you smoke weed yourself, Pepe? (CHUCKLES) Pepe, why did your government decide to legalise cannabis, or what we call weed, for recreational use? Cannabis is available at just 17 pharmacies serving the country of 3.5 million. Mercedes, a local weed enthusiast, is going to show me one of them. Tell me, what sort of neighbourhood are you in there? - We are in the middle of the town centre. - So it's like a normal pharmacy? - It's a normal neighbourhood pharmacy, and it's one of the main pharmacies selling weed here. - Fingerprint recognition is used, and consumers have to be registered on the government database to purchase cannabis, which also controls the 40g-per-month limit for an individual. - Here is Sergio. He's the owner of the pharmacy. - I would like to know, first of all ` how much do I need to pay to buy cannabis off you? That's around 10 NZD for 5g and is less than half the price of their illegal market. That's pretty cheap weed. Despite the price, only one in three users get their cannabis legally. The rest still turn to the illegal market. One reason might be the THC limit. Originally 2%, it was increased to 9% after user complaints. While Uruguay's approach is quite restricted, the pharmacy does sell bongs. Like Uruguay, New Zealand is proposing a THC limit, kept at 15% for dried cannabis. It's time to find out the THC levels in my cannabis samples. In the 1970s, the government laboratory ESR tested THC levels in cannabis materials seized by the police at around 1% to 5% THC, but right now, we don't really know what's out there. After months of negotiations, the ESR, after balancing legal aspects versus the public good, have been given permission from the top level to test my five cannabis samples from around the country. We will finally know what we're taking. - What one was this one? - Ngaruawahia. - OK. - What we're looking for is the presence of resin. That's where the THC is. - Yeah. - Yep, there's resin on here. The resin is, sort of, the little balls, and they're, kind of, attached to a stem. - So clear sort of globules? - Yep. - Each sample is broken down and the cannabinoids separated. Then it's put into a testing device which can detect the levels of THC present. You've got some results? - I have got some results for you. So, if we look at from the lowest ranking ` that was our sample number three. - OK, the bush weed. - And that contained 14%. - Under the proposed legal limit of 15%, that would be able to be sold on a recreational market. - The next one ` if we're going up ` it contains 17% THC. - Gandalf's over the proposed limit. - And the next one that we found is this one,... - G13. - ...and that contains 18% THC. - So getting stronger. - And the one with the highest THC is our sample four. That contained 21%. - So this is getting up there. Ngaruawahia. And then it's time to test diamonds, a highly concentrated form of cannabis. OK, well, let's get down to the business end, which is the seriously new and supposedly strong stuff. - We found 81% THC. - Wow. That's huge. 81%. Only one of the four dried cannabis samples is under the 15% cap, but the cannabis extract is five times stronger, at 81%. - We've tested weed from around New Zealand, and some of it's 80% THC that you can buy right now. - Good grief. OK. All right. I haven't heard of THC levels that high. - That's a processed cannabis extraction. - I was gonna say ` that'd be` - Yeah, it's an extraction. Yeah, yeah. But that is available and for sale in New Zealand. It's called diamonds. Does that worry you, that that strength of weed is out there right now? - Depending on how you consume it, that could potentially be very dangerous, you know? You will fry your brain, (CHUCKLES) over a period of time, if that's what you're using on a regular basis. - Yeah. - The THC limit will be set at 15% for licenced growers, but that won't apply to home growers, who are free to grow any strength weed ` but not to turn it into diamonds, of course. After my investigation over two years that took me all over the country and around the world, I reckon the proposed New Zealand legislation is a well-thought-out starting point. It is not as tightly regulated as it is in Uruguay but has a lot more restrictions than they do in Canada and America. Should you vote 'yes' because it's already everywhere and it's better to try and reduce harm by controlling it? 'Yes' to stop the criminalisation of people that choose to use weed? 'Yes' to save money in law enforcement and to create a new industry with new jobs and a tax take? Maybe you will just vote 'yes' simply because you want to consume weed when you feel like it. Or should you vote 'no' because cannabis is bad for your health and bad for the developing brain? 'No' because you can see no reason to make another harmful substance like tobacco and alcohol legal? 'No' because it could make weed more accessible to everyone? Yes or no, weed will still be here. It is a hard call, and it is a big call. What do we do about weed? You get to decide. (INTENSE, BROODING MUSIC) Captions by Alex Walker and Maeve Kelly. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2020 (MUSIC CONTINUES) Supporting local content so you can see more of New Zealand on air.