New Zealanders are among the world’s highest consumers of a number of illicit substances. This, however, has not always been the case. There was a time when there was no use of drugs in this country. It is often thought that prior to European contact, Māori were one of the few societies that did not partake in the recreational use of drugs.

This thesis aims to provide a comprehensive outline of New Zealand’s history of drugs. Tracing how New Zealand went from being a country with no drug use, to one where drug use is frequent. It investigates the social and political responses to drugs and highlights how these have emerged and shifted over time.

The conclusions of this thesis were drawn from an extensive review of academic literature, reports from relevant departments, and legislation and other government papers. Thematic analysis of these documents was used to detail the primary themes that have been exhibited throughout New Zealand’s history of drugs. This analysis found two themes to be particularly evident. The first being the influence of international drug control policy on the local response to drugs, and the other being the punitive nature in which issues related to drugs have been dealt with in New Zealand. The role that these themes have had in developing and shaping drug policy in New Zealand will be examined in this thesis.