Sustain governor's veto of marijuana bill, HB481

To The Daily Sun,

We have a crisis in this State and it is called legalization of marijuana! HB481 passed the House and is headed for the Senate.

There is a large, well-funded, pro-marijuana group that is backing full legalization of a very dangerous drug. All you need to look at is the impact on Colorado that the proponents do not want to talk about. To hear them, it is all music and flowers, but is it really?

The strength of today’s marijuana is five to 10 times that of the Woodstock era, and they plan to make byproducts that will have an even higher concentration.

In Colorado, the emergency rooms are filled with cases that are caused by marijuana use and the losses on the road are skyrocketing. Pueblo is about two hours south of Denver. Here is a statement from one of their emergency room doctors:

“Realizing that the average joint of Woodstock had 1-3 mg of THC and knowing that the average Colorado joint has ~20 mg of THC (so, the equivalent of smoking 10 joints from Woodstock at the same time), you can see the harms won’t go down. Now, we have high concentrate THC - dabs, wax and shatter - that contain 90-225 mg of THC. This is the same as smoking ~ 50 - 100 Woodstock joints at the same time. I don’t think that the general public understands what type of potency we are dealing with. I frequently have patients that tell me they are using 2,000-5,000 mg of THC a day.”

“The number one diagnosis in adolescent rehab/psychiatric treatment centers is cannabis use disorder [addiction] … The medical costs alone will not even come close to being covered by the tax ‘windfall’. Taxes from cannabis will NOT solve a budget crisis.”

What are we doing in the middle of an opioid crisis? This isn’t a drug that will cure opioid addiction. Marijuana was the first drug almost all opioid users started with and in many cases what they use to supplement their high.

We know it is a drug that children see the adults using and, just like alcohol, they will use despite the age restrictions. The impact on development in adolescent brains is well-known and devastating. Proponents are now recommending it to pregnant women as a cure of morning sickness. Can you imagine the effects on the developing babies?

What can you do? Below I’ve listed how your Representative voted. It’s too late to change their vote but you can encourage them to sustain the Governor’s veto that is sure to come.

Rep. Howard Pearl — VOTED FOR LEGALIZATION. howard.pearl@leg.state.nh.us (603) 321-1482.

Rep. Rep. Greg Hill — Voted No. greg.hill@leg.state.nh.us (603) 286-7329.

Werner Horn — Voted No. werner.horn@leg.state.nh.us (603) 470-9667.

Rep. Joyce Fulweiler — Voted No. joyce.fulweiler@eg.state.nh.us (603) 520-2228.

Dave Testerman — Voted No. dave@sanbornhall.net (603) 321-1482.

What we don’t know is how will Senator Harold French vote. Contact him at (603) 271-4063 or Harold.French@leg.state.nh.us. He is key. Protect Franklin! Ask him to vote No in the Senate! Defeat HB481. The hearing was on the 23rd of April and they will vote on the bill a few days after.

If you want to contact me, call at (603) 320-9524 or email at dave@sanbornhall.net.

Cheers!

Dave Testerman,

Rep., Hill and Franklin