The NZ Drug Foundation's 2022 State of the Nation report shows Māori still suffer the most from drugs and alcohol.
The annual report found drug-related deaths are three times higher for Māori than non-Māori, Māori women were more likely to use amphetamines than nōn-Māori and Māori were still over-represented in the number of people jailed for drug-related offences.
The Drug Foundation says the report shows New Zealand’s approach to drugs is leading to grossly "inequitable outcomes for Māori across the board".
Executive director Sarah Helm says that while the stats show the enduring impact of colonisation, they also show that current-day policies are compounding that harm, not reversing it.
“The only word to describe a system where Māori make up two-thirds of those sentenced for drug-related offences is racist. There isn’t any other way to describe it. We urgently need to change gear if we’re to reverse generations of harm.”
Some 48 per cent of people convicted for drug possession offences were Māori, and more than 60 per cent of those jailed were Māori.
In addition, 913 rangatahi entered the youth justice system for drug offences in 2020.
250,000 use illegal medicinal cannabis
The report also found only a tiny percentage of New Zealanders who use cannabis for medicinal purposes are accessing the product through legal channels.
The analysis, based on Official Information Act requests and patient estimates calculated from the NZ Health Survey, shows more than 250,000 New Zealanders use cannabis for medicinal purposes, but only 6% accessed it via prescription under the country's medicinal cannabis regime in 2020.
NZ Drug Foundation policy director Kali Mercier says the numbers show that, while the number of people accessing cannabis legally has grown under the new regime, there are still significant barriers.
"Unfortunately, the current medicinal cannabis regime is simply inaccessible for many people. It is hard to get a prescription because many doctors won't prescribe or aren't sure how to prescribe the products. And price is another huge barrier. The drugs aren't funded, so CBD oil can cost a patient $150-350 per month, with other products costing even more."
Mercier says the solution lies not just in improving the price and accessibility of prescription products but also in decriminalisation.
"Unless medicinal cannabis products start to be funded by Pharmac and doctors become more comfortable with prescribing it, tens of thousands of people will continue to turn to the black market. And even then, many people will continue to distrust the health system. We should not be criminalising any of them."
Wāhine lead amphetamine use
Meth is still prevalent in New Zealand but while the rate here is lower than Australia, the US and Canada, it is higher than Europe.
The report shows Māori are 1.8 times more likely to use amphetamines than non-Māori.
But Māori women are nearly three times more likely to use amphetamines than other ethnicities.
Amphetamine use is seven times higher in poorer neighbourhoods than wealthy, with that number skyrocketing to over 18 times for women.
The report says New Zealand’s one-size-fits-all approach to the drug doesn’t take these differences into account.
Heavy-handed approach to cannabis
The Drug Foundation wants more health-based solutions for rangatahi using drugs.
Drugs are a major reason for suspensions, expulsions and exclusions of rangatahi from school.
In 2020 9.9% of exclusions were for drugs. Only physical assaults and continual disobedience are more common as the main reasons for removal from school. The rates are higher for girls, who make up 13.5% of exclusions for drugs.
Māori students made up 46% of total exclusions for drugs in 2020 and Māori boys are excluded at nearly twice the rate of Māori girls. However, overall there has been a large decrease in the total number of Māori students excluded for alcohol and drugs use, from 152 in 2010, to 32 in 2020.
In 2020, 913 rangatahi also entered the youth justice system for drug offences.
Helm says the impact of being put through the justice system far outweighs the harm of experimenting with cannabis.
"The disproportionate, heavy-handed approach to cannabis, as compared to alcohol use, reflects a failed assumption that prosecution will deter use. As it stands, we are condemning a small number of young people by removing them from education and employment opportunities and tying them up in the justice system.
“As always, Māori bear the disproportionate burden of this. There are much better approaches and it is time to update our thinking to give young people the best chance to thrive."
She also says that while it’s by no means a silver bullet, decriminalisation would also go a long way to curbing many of the harms highlighted in the report.
The analysis is part of the NZ Drug Foundation's 2022 State of the Nation report.