The Ministry of Justice's cannabis offences tables for the year to 30 June 2026 show 5,690 finalised charges, down from 5,854 a year earlier, and 3,543 people charged, down from 3,606. Convictions were stable: 2,551 people were convicted, against 2,600 in 2024/25, and 558 received imprisonment as their most serious sentence, about 22%. Of 2,596 cannabis conviction instances, 464 were for cannabis offences alone; the rest also involved other offences.[1][2]
Listed for context. No score change is recorded for New Zealand here.
References
- Ministry of Justice — Justice statistics data tables (updated 17 September 2026)Cannabis offences tables, published 15 September 2026
- Ministry of Justice — Cannabis offences data tables, June 2026Tables 1a, 2a, 4 and 6a
Checked. The date and the event were compared with a source that was read.