Concern decriminalising cannabis is a weak compromise

Preliminary referendum results show the Cannabis Bill will likely fail to pass at 46.1 per cent of the vote.

The Government may still decided to bring in cannabis reform, by removing legal sanctions on the drug.

But Auckland University of Technology Associate Law Professor, Khylee Quince, says that's not enough.

She says it makes a nonsense of the law to say something is illegal but if it's used, police will turn a blind-eye.