NZ Referenda: Euthanasia Now Legal, Weed Remains Illegal

[Costa Fierro]

The preliminary results are in and New Zealand voters have decided to vote yes to legalise euthanasia and no to the legalisation of cannabis.

For the referendum to legalise euthanasia, 65.2% of voters ticked yes, 33.8% ticked no.

For the legalisation of cannabis, 53.1% of voters ticked no, 46.1% ticked yes.

Bear in mind that these are the preliminary results. There are approximately 480,000 special votes still to be counted, including those that registered to vote on election day and votes from overseas. These could change the results of the referenda and of the makeup of the House of Representatives, with final results to be announced on November 6.

What this means is that in approximately 12 months from now, euthanasia will no longer be illegal in New Zealand, as the referendum on that issue is binding.

It also means that for the time being, the bill to legalise cannabis will not be brought before Parliament to undergo the usual legislative processes.

Link for euthanasia referendum.

Link for cannabis referendum.

Personally I am very disappointed in the cannabis referendum not passing although I knew the results were not as clear cut as that of the euthanasia referendum. There is some hope that the special votes could swing in favour of legalisation but I doubt there'd be enough numbers to give a firm majority, although special votes tend to favour more left-wing parties so one could assume left-wing views on social issues would be inferred.

Anyway, comments and hot takes in the boxes below.

[Albrenia]

Good on NZ, although I find it odd that weed didn't get legalized.

[Forsher]

Change the title OP... perhaps, "NZ Votes: Cannabis Banned, Euthanasia Fine"... as it stands only makes sense to come to this thread for people who have a prior interest in the referenda.

Good on NZ, although I find it odd that weed didn't get legalized.

Why?

You often see people compare cannabis to alcohol. Well... would alcohol be legal if it was discovered in a lab for the first time tomorrow? Probably not, right? And almost certainly not if the lab determined that they'd created an addictive substance with deleterious effects on major organs in even small amounts and much worse consequences with prolonged use. And if they also, even more miraculously, also determined the effects of maternal alcohol consumption on foetuses? The lab might suppress the research for fear of being murdered in their beds.

Look at the arguments... the argument for legalisation was basically "we're too soft on certain criminals". Well, people think the solution to that is either "decriminalise" (done... edit: medical cannabis only, I was confused) or "go hard on all of them"... neither of which is a "yes" vote.

Similarly, there's a health effects argument... which runs into "hmm, here's this thing we learnt at school is bad for you... ah, they're not saying it's not bad for you... just that it's better than booze... but legalisation is the best way to keep things safe". Okay, so now you've framed it as, "Is the Health system good enough to make sure people, even druggies, are going to get help?" To which the answer is.... NZers are incredibly delusional when it comes to the merits of healthcare in NZ (and get fed delusional takes by Americans comparing their failed system to a... functional one), so why vote yes? The Health System's got it. However you look at it.. it doesn't seem necessary.

And so it's probably really down to one thing or not... should things that have bad effects be illegal? And unless they're already legal... I think the answer is going to be no.

Disclaimer: I don't care about cannabis and randomised my vote... it happened to be yes.

Contrast Euthanasia... do you want to force granny and granddad to live in pain when they'd rather die? (Not that the Bill actually allows this... it's just for terminal illnesses, with several other, very, restrictive conditions on top of that.) Yes? You monster! Clear harm... clear failure of the existing structures. And pretty clear outcome.

(Like... almost every argument I know of against Euthanasia is about slippery slope, medical error or religious. NZ's very nearly majority irreligious.)

Also, Euthanasia's been a major story here for years and years and years.

[Nobel Hobos 2]

One out of two will have to do. And if the trend is like other Western countries, the cannabis legalization might pass next time.

I wonder if decriminalization of cannabis might have been a more cautious step?

[Luziyca]

Kinda strange that cannabis did not get legalized, but then again, New Zealand is beautiful enough without the mind-altering drugs.

[Cultural Posadism]

I hope the final results on the cannabis referendum go in Yes' favour. Let the devil's weed flow free!

Kinda pleasantly surprised by the preliminary results on euthanasia, tbh. Good on kiwis for that one.

[Albrenia]

Yeah, I support Euthanasia being legal, as long as there's some pretty obvious safeguards keeping it from being misused. Don't overly care about weed, as long as the medical stuff is allowed.

[Aclion]

What were the results of the referendum on pipeweed?

[Senkaku]

if you told me one out of two would pass, this is uhhh not the outcome I would have expected but... alright

[Forsher]

if you told me one out of two would pass, this is uhhh not the outcome I would have expected but... alright

It was in line with the polling.

[Nobel Hobos 2]

What were the results of the referendum on pipeweed?

"I was gonna go vote for the weed
But then I got high ..."

[Kowani]

if you told me one out of two would pass, this is uhhh not the outcome I would have expected but... alright

It was in line with the polling.

To be fair, nobody outside of NZ was watching the polling save for the uber politcal junkies.

[-Ocelot-]

I find it so hypocritical on how people are demonizing cigarettes for being addictive and cancer causing due to products of combustion, yet rally for the legalization of a drug that's more addictive and more harmful than cigarettes. Does weed have a magical properly where its burned material doesn't produce carcinogens I'm not aware of? Why do we need to legalize a drug that makes you an unmotivated zombie, damages brain development in younger ages, and sets you up for psychotic disorders?

[The Archregimancy]

What were the results of the referendum on pipeweed?

It failed.

The exploitation of smaller than average stature locals with hairy feet in order to guarantee the monopolisation of the pipeweed supply by the Istari oligarchy will, alas, continue.

[Forsher]

It was in line with the polling.

To be fair, nobody outside of NZ was watching the polling save for the uber politcal junkies.

While true, I really don't get why people would imagine weed to be more popular.

One one hand... blazed as drivers and schizophrenia.

On the other hand... people dying in pain.

Seems like a slam dunk for Euthanasia.

Christ... are those ads really seven years old now? Jesus.