National's Paula Bennett, Greens' Chlöe Swarbrick go head-to-head over cannabis referendum

"If you decriminalise, you remove criminal penalties from the people who are using the substance but you're completely silent on the issue of where they get that cannabis from. So you're still able to supply to young people, there's no potency controls and there is the, kind of, proliferation of the substance under the black market."

Ms Swarbrick also said that 80 per cent of adult Kiwis had used cannabis, but under the current laws it means some people who get caught may face job loss, impediments to travel, future education and work, while others who don't get caught can go on to be successful politicians such as herself.

"We've all admitted that prohibition simply isn't working," she said.