CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE – The New Hampshire House of Representatives today voted, as it did in 2008, to reduce the penalty for possessing one-quarter ounce or less of marijuana. House Bill 1653 passed by a 214-137 vote. Previously, the bill had been recommended “out to pass” in a 16-2 vote by the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee February 11.
“This makes three years in a row that the House has passed a bill attempting to reform New Hampshire’s archaic marijuana policies,” said Matt Simon, executive director for the New Hampshire Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy. “Unfortunately, Gov. Lynch has continued to show little interest in learning what the House has learned about these issues.
In 2008, a measure similar to HB 1653 passed the House in a 193-141 vote, and last year a bill allowing marijuana for seriously ill patients passed the House and Senate before being vetoed by Gov. Lynch.
Advocates stressed that the proposed policy would continue to discourage marijuana use, especially by those under 18, who would be required to complete a drug awareness program and community service if caught with less than one-quarter ounce of marijuana.
“This bill doesn’t make marijuana legal for anybody,” Simon said. “It just reduces the penalty and ends the wasteful practice of clogging up our criminal justice system with people whose only ‘crime’ is possessing small amounts of marijuana.”
Rep. Joel Winters (D-Manchester) supported the bill in the floor debate. “Passage of this bill will simply mean we’ve gotten smarter—that police can now waste less time dealing with marijuana users and have more time and resources freed up for dealing with serious crimes,” he told his colleagues.
Since 1973, 12 states have decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana, including neighbor states Maine and Massachusetts, as well as North Carolina, Ohio, Nebraska and Mississippi.
Comments (5)
I hope when Mr. Lynch is up for re-election, the voters of New Hampshire stick it to him. What a dick! There is absolutely NO reason for simple possession of marijuana to be a crime. A $200 fine is SIGNIFICANTLY more reasonable than a year in the slammer and a $2,000 fine.
Johnny Green
www.theweedblog.com
Governor Lynch is living in the past. Hopefully, next election, the people of New Hampshire will put the past behind them.
When are they going to make people complete drug awareness programs for drinking wine or coffee? With this obesity epidemic plaguing America we should create a "War on FAT" and start fast and strong by firing all the fat cops. Possession of a 1/4 lb cheeseburger will be 20 years under the reinstated rockefeller laws.
Drug awareness is covered in high school. Stick to the facts and we might not be having the problems we do. As for the harder stuff, I am more open to programs, but sending kids to programs over weed is a waste of money.
Lets all make sure Lynch doesn't stay too much longer in his throne of Moral superiority. Vote that idiot out.
When are they going to make people complete drug awareness programs for drinking wine or coffee? With this obesity epidemic plaguing America we should create a "War on FAT" and start fast and strong by firing all the fat cops. Possession of a 1/4 lb cheeseburger will be 20 years under the reinstated rockefeller laws.
Drug awareness is covered in high school. Stick to the facts and we might not be having the problems we do. As for the harder stuff, I am more open to programs, but sending kids to programs over weed is a waste of money.
Lets all make sure Lynch doesn't stay too much longer in his throne of Moral superiority. Vote that idiot out.
Prohibition is a sickening horror and the ocean of human wreckage it has left in its wake is almost endless.
Based on the unalterable proviso that drug use is essentially an unstoppable and ongoing human behavior which has been with us since the dawn of time, any serious reading on the subject of past attempts at any form of drug prohibition would point most normal thinking people in the direction of sensible regulation. By its very nature prohibition cannot fail but create a vast increase in criminal activity, and rather than preventing society from descending into anarchy, it actually fosters an anarchic business model - the international Drug Trade. Any decisions concerning quality, quantity, distribution and availability are then left in the hands of unregulated, anonymous, ruthless drug dealers, who are interested only in the huge profits involved.
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