Mike, a 30-something professional, cares enough about better cannabis policy that he and other local supporters will be at the Riccarton Sunday Market, March 1st from 9am-2pm.

“I don't want my kids to grow up in a country that criminalises them for a bit of weed or that allows crime to control that market. That's why I'm voting 'Yes'," says Mike. "Prohibition is the worst way to control  cannabis. There's no age limit, people have no idea of the quality or  potency, and it creates a black market that funds organised crime. Strict legal regulation is the far better way to go.”

"This referendum isn't really about cannabis; it's about how we manage cannabis use," Mike explains. "And the current law has been a dismal failure. Just look at the connection prohibition creates between the cannabis and meth markets."

Mike will be one of dozens of Make It Legal supporters running educational stalls throughout New Zealand this weekend, hoping to inform people about the proposed Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill, to be voted on at the referendum on the 19th September. The Bill, if passed during the referendum, would be one of the strictest regulated markets for cannabis in the world. It would remove convictions for using cannabis, but would only allow people to use cannabis in the privacy of their own homes, or at a venue specially licensed for sale of cannabis.

“Nobody deserves a conviction for using cannabis," says Mike. "We think of ourselves as a fair country, but what's fair about making someone a criminal for a drug that's less harmful than alcohol?"

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