Reps of color afraid of what legal pot will do in their communities

To The Daily Sun,

It has been a busy week at the Statehouse in Concord. There is a push to get bills passed through the system. This is to allow them to be heard by a second committee prior to going to the Senate at the beginning of April. I think there is also a rush effort to pass bills that the Democrats could not get through when they were in the minority. One of those is HB-481, that will legalized cannabis (marijuana to the rest of us). Public testimony was heard from 10 am to 7:30 p.m.

HB-481 fully legalizes and commercializes cannabis in New Hampshire. As seen from states that have commercialized marijuana, this industry targets youth despite claims for restricted use by adults only. Extensive testimony on the harmful effects to developing brains and the increased risk of substance use disorder was presented. New Hampshire already has a robust therapeutic marijuana program now serving over 7,000 individuals. Furthermore, the state already reduced the charge for possession in 2017 smaller amounts.

HB-481 creates a commercialized marijuana industry in New Hampshire, opening the door to all components of the marijuana business with no limits on the types of products sold or the potency of those products. The bill also allows vaping marijuana in public places at a time when vaping has become an epidemic in our schools and communities. The bill removes local control by automatically opting municipalities in, contrary to the recommendations of the legislative study commission’s report. Finally, HB-481 offers no protections for employers and small businesses seeking to enact their own policies prohibiting the use, consumption, and possession of marijuana in the workplace.

In the end, the majority listened to the pot lobbyists, not our law enforcement community. This passed with a 10-9 vote with three Democrats voting against. It was interesting to note that two of the three were women of color on the committee who said it would be devastating in their communities.

Another controversial bill was HB-455, to repeal the death penalty. New Hampshire has a cautious approach to using this punishment. It has been 80+ years since the last execution. We use it sparingly. The only person on death row now was found guilty of killing a policeman. There certainly are opponents to the death penalty who conflate it with abortion and cannot abide any loss of life. Of course, many people who want to eliminate the death penalty are pro-abortion. I asked members of this persuasion if they would support keeping the death penalty if we labeled it post term abortion or retroactive birth control. There were no takers. Again, the vote was 10-9 for repeal.

Dave Testerman

Representative for Hill and Franklin

Franklin