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New Zealand Drug Foundation
The New Zealand Drug Foundation is a registered charitable entity under the Charities Act 2005. It supports evidence based policies and services aimed at reducing and preventing the harm caused by drugs in New Zealand. This includes harm caused by legal drugs, such as tobacco and alcohol, as well as illegal drugs, such as methamphetamine, opiates, LSD, ecstacy and cannabis. The Foundation provides evidence based information on its website, issues press releases to the media and posits that New Zealand's drug laws are no longer fit for purpose. It advocates for changes to the law so that drug use is treated as a health issue rather than a criminal issue. The Foundation is supported by government funding, corporate and private grants and donations, and by its members.

Activities
The Drug Foundation communicates directly with the public via its website and media releases about important drug issues. It hosts events for members of Parliament, government officials and alcohol and drug sector leaders and maintains strong international networks to keep up with global policy debates and drug law reform.

Cannabis referendum
In 2020, New Zealand held a referendum on the Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill which would have allowed people aged 20 and above to purchase and possess up to 14 grams of dried cannabis per day. The Drug Foundation supported a yes vote saying that 80% of New Zealanders have tried cannabis by age 21, but only 10% of the population were heavy users. The Foundation reported that New Zealanders consume around 74 tonnes of cannabis a year, and that each year, the New Zealand Police spend over 330,000 hours on cannabis enforcement costing the taxpayer almost $200 million. It said legalisation would free up police to focus on more serious drug crimes.

The Foundation also suggested that legalisation would raise up to $1 billion a year in taxation and that this could fund healthcare (including more addiction treatment facilities), schools, education programmes and other infrastructure that would benefit all New Zealanders. The cannabis industry could employ about 5000 people and allow the government to regulate and tax the sale and distribution.

Alcohol reform
In 2012, the Government introduced a Bill to reform alcohol policy in New Zealand. In 2011, the Foundation made a submission expressing concerns that the Bill omitted three of the most effective recommendations to reduce alcohol related harm made by the New Zealand Law Commission. These were recommendations to increase the excise tax on alcohol, place limits on the marketing of alcohol and lower the legal blood alcohol concentration limits for driving. In 2018, the Foundation made another submission pointing out similar concerns.

Methamphetamine
In 2018, the Foundation made a submission to the Mental Health and Addiction Inquiry arguing that the penalties for methamphetamine offences were too harsh compared with penalties for other crimes, and should be lowered.

Publications
The Foundation's website has a Drug Index which provides accurate, evidence based information about alcohol and other drugs; and a section called The Level which provides guidance on how to use drugs safely. Each year, the Foundation issues a report on drug related issues and trends in New Zealand called State of the Nation.