Justice Centre | 19 Aitken Street
DX SX10088 | Wel ington
T 04 918 8800 |
F 04 918 8820
[email address] | www.justice.govt.nz
29 April 2026
William Rea
[FYI request #34261 email]
Our ref: OIA 131365
Tēnā koe William
Official Information Act request: Cannabis possession charge outcomes
Thank you for your email of 27 March 2026 to the Ministry of Justice (the Ministry),
requesting data on cannabis possession charge outcomes under the Of icial Information Act
1982 (the Act). Specifically, you have requested:
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 “Al 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Withdrawn by the prosecution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of “not proved”, withdrawn, or dismissed cannabis possession cases where a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.
In response to your request, please refer to Tables 1 and 2 attached:
•
Table 1 provides the number of finalised charges for cannabis offences under the
ANZSOC subdivision ‘Unlawful possession or use of drugs’, broken down by charge
outcome and calendar year, between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2025.
•
Table 2 provides the number of people with finalised charges for cannabis offences
under the ANZSOC subdivision ‘Unlawful possession or use of drugs’, broken down
by charge outcome and calendar year, between 1 January 2016 and 31 December
2025.
The data has been provided as an Excel spreadsheet so that you can filter the data as
needed, on the understanding that you do not alter the data in any way.
Please ensure the table notes are read before considering the data provided. The data is
extracted from a live dataset, which means it may differ from other published data.
Please note that this response, with your personal details removed, may be published on the
Ministry website at:
Of icial Information Act responses | New Zealand Ministry of Justice.
If you are not satisfied with this response, you have the right to make a complaint to the
Ombudsman under section 28 of the Act. The Office of the Ombudsman may be contacted
by phone on: 0800 802 602, by email at: [email address], or via the
webform:
Make a complaint (for members of the public) | Ombudsman New Zealand.
Nāku noa, nā
Jacquelyn Shannon
Group Manager, Courts and Tribunals, Regional Service Delivery Group
