Ahead of next month's cannabis referendum, Justice Minister Andrew Little has revealed his experience smoking marijuana when he was younger and the surprising people he last shared a joint with.
When asked by The AM Show newsreader Amanda Gillies if he'd been in any "hairy situations" involving cannabis, Little said: "I'm not a big fan of it - I've tried it a few times - it's never done really good for me.
"I'd have to say the last experience was when I was a new lawyer and I went around to somebody's house, and lawyers, QC's, a Judge, were all there and passing around a joint."
Little said it will be a difficult decision for Kiwis to make on whether to legalise cannabis.
"My view is probably 50/50 still. Cannabis is a substance that causes harm - it causes harm to young people and that's why if you're going to legalise it and recognise it, then you want to control it."
The proposed legislation, the Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill, will still have to be passed by the incoming Government should Kiwis vote in favour of the Bill next month. Little said a National-led Government would be free to say no - even if Kiwis say yes.
"We [Labour Coalition Government] will be bound by the result," Little said. "We will honour the result, so if there is a yes vote and we're in the Government - we will see it through.
"That doesn't apply to The National Party or ACT for that matter."
He said changes could still be made to the legislation, the reason for that being the need for the "full public process".
"That involves public submissions too - you've got to respect that, and plenty of Select Committee processes get pretty good ideas from people. I'd expect this would be something, if it gets that far and goes through the process, there'd be a lot of scientists, medics, people interested in the community - they'd want things in the legislation to protect things that they're concerned about," Little told host Duncan Garner.
Kiwis will get the chance to vote on the matter at September's general election.
