Updated January 16, 2014; 8:30 PM; Jan. 17, 2014, 9:30 PM
Yes, I live in New Hampshire. Always loved the motto, "Live Free or Die." I've been here since 1988. I am familiar with the state and it's politics, but in no way do I understand politicians. My impression when I moved here after 7 years living in Boston was that people in NH were staunch believers in not treading on others. "Mind our own business", a Ben Franklin quote, if I'm correct. Conservative state that respected individual rights and liberty.
In the news:
Correction: Initially I wrote the next paragraph, and thought I had my facts straight... I never said I knew the political system, in fact, it's quite intimidating in my opinion. Anyway the following mistakenly says the House voted; It wasn't the House, but rather it was a branch or another group within NH government, perhaps a committee. The actual House of Representatives (the Lower House to be specific) yesterday voted 170 to 162 in favor to legalize cannabis for adult use, for those over age 21 as we can do now with alcohol.
The New Hampshire House is voting once again to legalize marijuana. Tomorrow, January 15, 2014. If voting goes as it did the last time, what? Two years ago? It will pass with an overwhelming vote. As I recall it was something like 21 to 3. The House has passed a measure 4 times. Governor Lynch was in office I think the whole time, and every time it came up for vote, the governor would vow to veto legalization, but never had to as the senate never approved it.
That was then, this is now. We have a new governor, Maggie Hassan (who I did vote for). Last year she signed a bill into law legalizing medical marijuana and this includes five, state of the art facilities to grow the marijuana. NH became the 20th or 21st state to legalize medical marijuana. There are problems with the arrangements however. Governor Hassan refused to sin the bill into law if allowing patients to grow their own was included, or patients suffering from PTSD - most common with military combat soldiers and veterans, though equally prevalent among your citizen population. The regulatory requirements would make one think they're applying for level 3 clearance into the Pentagon. At best, in my opinion it's a compromise.
Since then, two states and one city have legalized "recreation " marijuana, and in Colorado, one of those states, adults 21 and older can now purchase at a cannabis outlet their marijuana and legally smoke it at home. They can grow it. Washington state is soon to follow; marijuana is legal there as of a year or two ago, but their state stores haven't opened yet. The city is Portland Maine. They legalized it last year - no word on the details yet, but I was told it went into effect December 30, 2013, no plans for outlets to purchase it, possession of two ounces permitted by law. It's been widely reported Maine will be another state in 2014 that legalizes "recreational" marijuana.
There is a reason I put "recreational" in quotes. When it comes to cannabis/marijuana, the media loves to spin words, meanings, phrases and quotes... The following Top News stories from WMUR, Channel 9 in NH caught my attention. I believe they fairly portrayed both sides, gave the governor her say and day.
1) "Governor says she would veto marijuana legalization.
Hassan says legalization would send wrong message. "
Published 6:30 PM EST Jan 13, 2014 By Josh McElveen, Political Director/News Anchor/Rep
2) "Marijuana debate heats up in NH House; House votes on (the) bill Wednesday."
UPDATED 6:24 AM EST Jan 13, 2014 By Jennifer Gannon, News Reporter
Nothing wrong with a good debate. Problem is Governor Maggie Hassan isn't willing to participate or listen. She's vowed to veto the bill if by some slim chance it passes the senate which has always voted these bills down. In the second newscast, an officer John Tholl is interviewed. A statement he made brought back memories. "Marijuana is a gateway drug. It contributes to a lot of crimes. The problem with marijuana is after awhile it's not enough. The person moves onto harder drugs. Harder crimes."
Hardly true as it's a generalization, a stereotype, hearsay. That's my opinion. Most marijuana crimes occur as for the fact marijuana is illegal. It's like when "dirty books" - Henry Miller, James Joyce, Norman Mailer were the kingpins of "dirty books", and such books reputably would corrupt and sinfully tempt the reader. Or when sex was illegal; you didn't know sex was ever illegal? It was, and still is in many countries, and extremely in-tolerated. In the US it wasn't until the early 1970's M-F sex was "legalized".
Most marijuana users are quite content with their marijuana. That's not to say human-beings don't like experimenting. They do! What it means is to draw a connection between use of marijuana and escalation to hard drugs and crime is quite a stretch - as this essentially says that marijuana users become psychotic and lose their minds. It's why often I refer to stoners as zombies... and the law enforcement experts Governor Hassan refers to must think of marijuana users exactly like they are zombies, without a living mind.
The biggest, most serious concern proponents of legalization are trying to make is, "where does the marijuana come from? Who profits from the sale? Is it untainted by chemicals, fungus, bacteria? And these to me are sound concerns. When Governor Hassan says "legalization sends the wrong message to children", we forget that it isn't about children at all. It's about adults. Liberty and freedom. Just as adults that can legally choose to buy and use all the alcohol and tobacco they want. And often, it is a major cause to health concerns. Marijuana is unique in that it can be used quite safely, and can often be very beneficial. And people are thrown in prisons for that, their lives ruined by an arrest record, for even the smallest amounts, or simply a pipe.
If it was true at all, what officer Tholl says, I'd certainly be concerned too. But I'm not. I'm more concerned about decades of lies, propaganda and deceit. But that's his opinion. I listened. That is the start of communication. However when a governor refuses to listen, that's not being a Representative of the People. And she won't get my vote a second time.
Let's voice our support and legalize marijuana in New Hampshire.
Stop The Hurt!
Yes, I live in New Hampshire. Always loved the motto, "Live Free or Die." I've been here since 1988. I am familiar with the state and it's politics, but in no way do I understand politicians. My impression when I moved here after 7 years living in Boston was that people in NH were staunch believers in not treading on others. "Mind our own business", a Ben Franklin quote, if I'm correct. Conservative state that respected individual rights and liberty.
In the news:
Correction: Initially I wrote the next paragraph, and thought I had my facts straight... I never said I knew the political system, in fact, it's quite intimidating in my opinion. Anyway the following mistakenly says the House voted; It wasn't the House, but rather it was a branch or another group within NH government, perhaps a committee. The actual House of Representatives (the Lower House to be specific) yesterday voted 170 to 162 in favor to legalize cannabis for adult use, for those over age 21 as we can do now with alcohol.
The New Hampshire House is voting once again to legalize marijuana. Tomorrow, January 15, 2014. If voting goes as it did the last time, what? Two years ago? It will pass with an overwhelming vote. As I recall it was something like 21 to 3. The House has passed a measure 4 times. Governor Lynch was in office I think the whole time, and every time it came up for vote, the governor would vow to veto legalization, but never had to as the senate never approved it.
That was then, this is now. We have a new governor, Maggie Hassan (who I did vote for). Last year she signed a bill into law legalizing medical marijuana and this includes five, state of the art facilities to grow the marijuana. NH became the 20th or 21st state to legalize medical marijuana. There are problems with the arrangements however. Governor Hassan refused to sin the bill into law if allowing patients to grow their own was included, or patients suffering from PTSD - most common with military combat soldiers and veterans, though equally prevalent among your citizen population. The regulatory requirements would make one think they're applying for level 3 clearance into the Pentagon. At best, in my opinion it's a compromise.
Since then, two states and one city have legalized "recreation " marijuana, and in Colorado, one of those states, adults 21 and older can now purchase at a cannabis outlet their marijuana and legally smoke it at home. They can grow it. Washington state is soon to follow; marijuana is legal there as of a year or two ago, but their state stores haven't opened yet. The city is Portland Maine. They legalized it last year - no word on the details yet, but I was told it went into effect December 30, 2013, no plans for outlets to purchase it, possession of two ounces permitted by law. It's been widely reported Maine will be another state in 2014 that legalizes "recreational" marijuana.
There is a reason I put "recreational" in quotes. When it comes to cannabis/marijuana, the media loves to spin words, meanings, phrases and quotes... The following Top News stories from WMUR, Channel 9 in NH caught my attention. I believe they fairly portrayed both sides, gave the governor her say and day.
1) "Governor says she would veto marijuana legalization.
Hassan says legalization would send wrong message. "
Published 6:30 PM EST Jan 13, 2014 By Josh McElveen, Political Director/News Anchor/Rep
2) "Marijuana debate heats up in NH House; House votes on (the) bill Wednesday."
UPDATED 6:24 AM EST Jan 13, 2014 By Jennifer Gannon, News Reporter
Nothing wrong with a good debate. Problem is Governor Maggie Hassan isn't willing to participate or listen. She's vowed to veto the bill if by some slim chance it passes the senate which has always voted these bills down. In the second newscast, an officer John Tholl is interviewed. A statement he made brought back memories. "Marijuana is a gateway drug. It contributes to a lot of crimes. The problem with marijuana is after awhile it's not enough. The person moves onto harder drugs. Harder crimes."
Hardly true as it's a generalization, a stereotype, hearsay. That's my opinion. Most marijuana crimes occur as for the fact marijuana is illegal. It's like when "dirty books" - Henry Miller, James Joyce, Norman Mailer were the kingpins of "dirty books", and such books reputably would corrupt and sinfully tempt the reader. Or when sex was illegal; you didn't know sex was ever illegal? It was, and still is in many countries, and extremely in-tolerated. In the US it wasn't until the early 1970's M-F sex was "legalized".
Most marijuana users are quite content with their marijuana. That's not to say human-beings don't like experimenting. They do! What it means is to draw a connection between use of marijuana and escalation to hard drugs and crime is quite a stretch - as this essentially says that marijuana users become psychotic and lose their minds. It's why often I refer to stoners as zombies... and the law enforcement experts Governor Hassan refers to must think of marijuana users exactly like they are zombies, without a living mind.
The biggest, most serious concern proponents of legalization are trying to make is, "where does the marijuana come from? Who profits from the sale? Is it untainted by chemicals, fungus, bacteria? And these to me are sound concerns. When Governor Hassan says "legalization sends the wrong message to children", we forget that it isn't about children at all. It's about adults. Liberty and freedom. Just as adults that can legally choose to buy and use all the alcohol and tobacco they want. And often, it is a major cause to health concerns. Marijuana is unique in that it can be used quite safely, and can often be very beneficial. And people are thrown in prisons for that, their lives ruined by an arrest record, for even the smallest amounts, or simply a pipe.
If it was true at all, what officer Tholl says, I'd certainly be concerned too. But I'm not. I'm more concerned about decades of lies, propaganda and deceit. But that's his opinion. I listened. That is the start of communication. However when a governor refuses to listen, that's not being a Representative of the People. And she won't get my vote a second time.
Let's voice our support and legalize marijuana in New Hampshire.
Stop The Hurt!
