New Zealand countries/nz.yaml
Possession is a criminal offence with a maximum of three months' prison or a NZ$500 fine, and a legal presumption against imprisonment.[@moh,pmcsa] Since August 2019 police must consider whether a health-based response would be more beneficial than prosecution, and many cases now end in a warning or referral — but thousands are still charged.[@moh] The 1975 Act that still governs cannabis is traced in the [1975 Act](/history/new-zealand-misuse-of-drugs-1975/), and the 2019 discretion in its [amendment](/history/new-zealand-police-discretion-2019/).
Growing cannabis is a criminal offence, with up to seven years on indictment.[@pmcsa] The one exception is low-THC hemp, at most 1% THC by dry weight: since 28 May 2026 it may … ying both Police and the Ministry for Primary Industries, and a notification lasts a year.[@hemp_regs,police_hemp] It gives no right to grow cannabis to use.[@hemp_regs]
Use is an offence under the same provision as possession, handled with the same police discretion.[@moh,pmcsa]
No adult-use source. A 2020 referendum on a regulated legal market failed narrowly, 50.7% to 48.4%.[@ref] Medicinal cannabis is available on prescription from pharmacies.[@pmcsa] The vote is traced in the [2020 referendum](/history/new-zealand-referendum-2020/).
Prescription flower and oils that meet the scheme's quality standard. Otherwise only hemp products made from low-THC plants, such as seed and fibre products; not every use of hemp flowers or extracts is allowed.
pmcsa, moh_hemp
Any doctor can prescribe approved medicinal cannabis products for any condition. Products are unsubsidised and costly.[@pmcsa] Prescription flower and oils must meet the scheme's quality standard; otherwise only hemp products made from low-THC plants, such as seed and fibre products — not every use of hemp flowers or extracts is allowed.[@pmcsa,moh_hemp] The scheme's launch is traced in the [2020 scheme](/history/new-zealand-medicinal-scheme-2020/).
pmcsa, moh_hemp
A conviction is a criminal record affecting travel and work.[@pmcsa] Roadside oral-fluid drug testing was introduced with penalties for THC.[@nh]
Clubs are illegal and the best-known one has been shut down repeatedly. The Daktory ran op … moked on the premises; it drew more than 2,000 members before police raided and closed it.[@spin20] Its founder reopened it in Wellington, where police raided it in August 2019, charging him and another man with offences including possession for supply, and again in December 2019, a month after it had reopened.[@one19]
There is no legal recreational supply for anyone, so a visitor has no lawful way to buy cannabis.[@ref] Whatever legal supply exists is medical, for patients with a prescription or registration.[@pmcsa] The sources behind this profile describe no separate rule for visitors.
Police can stop any driver and screen saliva at the roadside for four drugs, THC among them.[@pdd2] Testing began in Wellington on 15 December 2025, with a national roll-out planned from April 2026.[@pdd1] The device reacts only at or above a built-in threshold, which police say is set to show recent use and to exclude past use and passive exposure.[@pdd2] A positive screen leads to a second one and a saliva sample for the laboratory; two positive screens mean a 12-hour driving ban on the spot.[@pdd3] A fine follows only if the laboratory confirms the drug at or above its threshold (5 ng/mL … d 75 points for two or more, and the same 400 dollars and 75 points for refusing the test.[@lab2025,pdd3] In blood, a concentration within the tolerance level is an infringement and one at the high-risk level a crime.[@lab2025] Patients prescribed cannabis can still test positive; they must take the test and may apply afterwards for a medical defence if they took the medicine as prescribed.[@pdd4]
Ministry of Justice figures reported in March 2026 show 3,438 people charged with possessi … hest number since a 2019 law change told police to consider a health-based response first.[@zb26] Charges had fallen from 3,719 in 2017 to a low of 2,055 in 2021.[@zb26] Of all convictions for cannabis offences, 82% came alongside charges unrelated to cannabis; 506 people were convicted of cannabis offences alone in 2025, against 387 in 2023.[@zb26] Police said the rise tracks higher use seen in wastewater testing, and that the charge figures leave out the warnings officers give for possession.[@zb26]
Figures reported by the government to the UN drugs office record 1,136 kg of herbal cannabis seized in 2024, against 812 kg in 2023, and 4.7 kg of cannabis resin seized in 2024, against 2.7 kg in 2023.[@unodc_szr] The UN publishes them as kilogram equivalents, and countries count seizures differently, so the figures are not comparable across borders.[@unodc_szr]
NZ Drug Foundation — Mythbusters: P and tinny houses (1 Feb 2007) 18 unchanged
NZD
label Ordinary Class B/C personal possession · treatment criminal · term Possession · prison 3 months · fine 500 · note Legal presumption against imprisonment; health response considered first
NZD
label Growing cannabis (on indictment) · treatment criminal · term Unlicensed cultivation · prison 7 years, label Hemp growing with notification (from 28 May 2026) · treatment legal · term Licensed hemp · note Notify Police and MPI; 1% THC max; one-year notification; no right to grow for use
Recreational cannabis is fully illegal: possession is a crime even if police must now consider a health response first, and the only public vote on a legal market failed.[@moh,ref] A tinny — a small foil-wrapped deal — remains the street-level unit, sold from ordinary-looking tinny houses; researchers found their young, often Maori buyers showed no wider drug escalation.[@nzdf07]
moh, ref, nzdf07
high
Hemp at most 1% THC may be grown without a licence for specified purposes since May 2026, after notifying Police and the Ministry for Primary Industries.[@hemp_regs] It gives no right to grow cannabis to use, and importing or exporting hemp plants and seed still needs a licence.[@hemp_regs]
hemp_regs
A tinny is a small foil-wrapped deal, and a tinny house the ordinary-looking home that sells it to anyone with cash — the country's street-level trade, which researchers found drew younger, often Maori buyers without spreading harder-drug use, deflating a 2000s panic that the houses pushed methamphetamine.[@nzdf07] Its story is traced in [tinny](/culture/language/tinny/).[@nzdf07]
nzdf07