A high-powered group of 25 individuals and organisations is calling for a major overhaul of the drug laws.
The group - including the Medical Association, Maori health providers, and the Mental Health Foundation - wants drug use to be treated as a health issue and says the 1975 Misuse of Drugs Act is fundamentally outdated.
It says criminalising all drug use has a negative impact across society.
Tania Sawicki Mead is a director at JustSpeak, a youth-based movement pushing for change to the criminal justice system.
