New Zealand will hold a referendum on whether to legalise cannabis for recreational use at the general election in 2020, a week after legalising the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes.
The governing Labour party promised the Green party they would hold a national referendum on legalising the drug, as part of the confidence and supply agreement between the two.
Cannabis is widely consumed in New Zealand with police largely turning a blind eye to small-scale, personal use.
The justice minister, Andrew Little, said the government had already forewarned the electoral mission to schedule the referendum at the same time as the general election, usually held around September.
The National Party leader, Simon Bridges, called the scheduling decision "cynical" and said he did not support the legalisation of cannabis, because of its impact on mental health and the message of "normalisation" it sent regarding recreational drug-use.
