Awardee: Mona-Lisa Wareka (Ngātiwai, Ngāti Rereahu), University of Waikato
This research aims towards facilitating transformative change by investigating the impacts and experiences Māori face under current cannabis laws, while examining opinions surrounding potential decriminalisation. This project is significant as it is the first of its kind in Aotearoa, and looks to challenge attitudes surrounding cannabis at an academic level.
While cannabis prohibition has affected New Zealand society as a whole, Māori are three times more likely than non-Māori to be charged for a cannabis offence (Rapana et al., 2022). It is crucial then, that Māori views and experiences are uplifted to the forefront of discussion and policy-making. This research provides an opportunity for Māori to openly, honestly, and safely express experiences of cannabis. Research objectives are as follows:
- To create a collaborative narrative of contemporary Māori cannabis culture from Māori perspectives;
- To investigate how cannabis cultivation, creation and consumption has been influenced by Te Ao Māori;
- To gain an understanding of the extent in which the criminalisation of cannabis affects Māori;