HB 640 is headed back to the House, which is expected to concur with the Senate’s version
The bill would remove the threat of arrest and jail time for possession of up to three-quarters of an ounce of marijuana
The New Hampshire Senate on Thursday passed a bill 17-6) that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. The Senate had previously defeated cannabis decrim eight times in the past 10 years.
Rep. Renny Cushing:
“I think what’s important is that we stop making criminals out of people who use a small amount of marijuana”
[InDepthNH]
HB 640 was originally introduced in the House by Democratic Rep. Renny Cushing and a bipartisan group of co-sponsors. “For 40 years the House has been talking about decriminalization of marijuana,” Cushing said, reports Paul Steinhauser at NH1. “I think we’re ready to do so.”
“I think what’s important is that we stop making criminals out of people who use a small amount of marijuana, that we don’t have students who use a little pot lose their student loans,” Rep. Cushing said. “That we don’t have veterans who use pot recreationally or for their own purposes get kicked out of their homes. That we stop spending $35,000 per year to incarcerate people who are convicted of possession of marijuana.”
“The times they are a-changing,” said Senate Majority Leader Jeb Woodburn, a Democrat, reports Paul Steinhauser at NH1. “It’s an idea whose time has come.” GOP Sen. Harold French of Franklin agreed: “It is time that New Hampshire listens to the will of our citizens.”
Gov. Chris Sununu:
“I want to thank the legislature for passing common sense marijuana reform. I look forward to signing House Bill 640 into law.”
[NH1]
Sununu Will Sign
“I want to thank the legislature for passing common sense marijuana reform,” Republican Governor Chris Sununu said. “I look forward to signing House Bill 640 into law.”
Sununu supported decriminalization during his campaign for governor last year. His Republican predecessor, Gov. Maggie Hassan, opposed decriminalization. “I do believe in the decriminalization aspect of marijuana,” Gov. Sununu said last week.
Matt Simon, Marijuana Policy Project:
“Quote”
[VT Digger]
‘Very Important Reform’
“This is a very important reform for the Granite State, and it has been a long time coming,” said Matt Simon, New England political director for the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP). “The walls of prohibition are crumbling in New England and across the United States. It’s encouraging to see New Hampshire finally begin to catch up with neighboring states by passing decriminalization.”
Erik Altieri, NORML:
“House Bill 640 is a long overdue, fiscally sensible proposal that is supported by the voters”
[Westword]
“After years of stonewalling by former leadership, we commend lawmakers for finally correcting this injustice,” Altieri said. “Once law, Granite State residents will be one step closer to being able to truly ‘Live Free’ and not just ‘live free, but potentially be incarcerated’.”
More than two-thirds of New Hampshire adults (68 percent) support making marijuana legal, according to the latest Granite State Poll, which was released Tuesday by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. Nearly three-quarters of Granite Staters (74 percent) would like to see the Legislature decriminalize or legalize marijuana.