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The Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party is a single-issue party campaigning to legalise cannabis for medical, recreational and industrial (hemp) purposes. It advocates legal possession and cultivation for adults over 18, a regulated R18 market, a medical-cannabis card, and expunging past cannabis convictions, and frames prohibition as a justice issue that disproportionately affects Māori. It holds no seats in the current Parliament.
Founded in 1996 and led for its first years by Michael Appleby, the party has contested every general election and numerous by-elections without winning parliamentary representation; its best result was 1.66% of the party vote in 1996. Former ALCP candidates Nándor Tánczos and Metiria Turei later became Green Party MPs. It is co-led by Maki Herbert and Michael Appleby.
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This party says legalising cannabis would move money out of the black market and into the legal economy. It says this would create jobs, bring in tax money, and free up police spending. It also wants to develop a hemp farming industry, which it says could provide work in poorer parts of New Zealand and produce things like food, fuel, and building materials.
“Legal cannabis commerce, (but without the promotional aspects of alcohol and tobacco), will create substantial economic benefits, eg. taxation revenue, carbon credits.”
“Cannabis agriculture for non-drug hemp products will provide employment and economic growth. This is impossible under current prohibition policies.”
“those hundreds of millions of dollars currently misdirected to NZ prohibition interests - eg. law enforcement on the one hand and untaxed organised crime on the other - will be positively circulating in the community.”
Summarised neutrally from Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party’s own official policy (as at 2026-09-07) and checked by an editor. Nothing is paraphrased without the source linked. Read the original ↗ Arapono is non-partisan. Compare all parties on Economy →
Seat counts from the 2023 General Election (Electoral Commission). Party background from parliament.nz and official party records. Leadership verified against the parliament.nz member roster.