I request the following information under the Official Information Act 1982.

I refer to the Ministry’s recently published data tables:

“Cannabis offences” data tables (4CS9Ac_Cannabis-offences_dec2025_v1.0.xlsx), and

“All finalised charges and convicted charges” data tables (3Al3gN_All-finalised-charges-and-convicted-charges_dec2025_v1.0.xlsx).

These tables cover data up to the year ending 31 December 2025.

To understand the full picture of court outcomes for cannabis possession charges, I request the following information for each calendar year from 2016 to 2025 inclusive, and specifically for the offence of unlawful possession or use of cannabis (ANZSOC Division 09 – unlawful possession or use of drugs, cannabis-related):

The total number of finalised charges, together with a complete breakdown by charge outcome, using the exact categories in your “All finalised charges” table, or any equivalent more detailed categories you hold. Please include, at minimum:

Convicted

Withdrawn by the prosecution

Dismissed

Discharged without conviction

Acquitted / not proved

Any other outcome category held

The same information as above, but counted by number of people, that is, unique individuals with one or more finalised cannabis possession charges in each year, and how many of those people received each outcome.

If the Ministry holds any further information, even in aggregate form, about the subset of “not proved”, withdrawn, or dismissed cannabis possession cases where a medicinal cannabis prescription, authorisation, or certificate was provided or cited as a reason for the outcome, please provide those numbers for the same period.

If any of the above information is already contained in the published Excel tables, please provide the exact table and sheet references, together with the extracted figures for cannabis possession only. If any part of this request would require substantial manual collation, please let me know as soon as possible so I can narrow the request.

I would prefer the response in electronic format, preferably Excel.

Thank you for your assistance. I look forward to your reply within the statutory 20 working days.

Yours sincerely,

William Rea