NZ First MP Shane Jones is refusing to back the cannabis referendum, saying he's seen firsthand the effects of "normalising drug culture".
He told Magic Talk's Road to The Election on Sunday that his hard stance against drugs shows he cares about Northland communities.
"A million years will pass before I ever vote to legalise marijuana," he told host Mitch McCann.
"I've seen the effects in Kaitaia of normalising the drug culture and it's a stepping stone onto P [methamphetamine]."
Meanwhile, Jones also fended off "unscientific and rogue" polls showing him well behind in the race for Northland. His party registered 1.9 percent in last month's Newshub-Reid Research Poll - well below the 5 percent threshold needed to get back into Parliament.
That means Jones winning the prized Northland seat could be the next best safety net for the party. He's campaigning to win the seat from National MP Matt King.
A Colmar-Brunton poll in August showed King on 46 percent, Labour's Willow-Jean Prime on 31 percent, and Jones on 15 percent.
Jones said that the poll was "definitely unscientific and rogue", and said investing energy in polls was more likely to make politicians go "stir-crazy".
"That poll eight to 10 weeks ago, mate, is out of my mind," he said.
Jones said many of the region's farmers were promising to give him their vote.
"I find talking to the farmers - they've now realised they've got the ability to form the next Government."
He said if farmers continued to "blindly follow National" then a "tsunami of hell" was going their way in the form of a Labour Government or Labour-Green coalition.
"I'm not entirely sure what else I could have done to get them [farmers] over the line."
The latest Newshub-Reid Research poll has National on 29.6 percent and Labour on 50.1 percent - indicating the party would be able to govern alone.
