BILL TO REGULATE MARIJUANA STUDIED IN NEW HAMPSHIRE DrugSense FOCUS Alert #430 - Thursday, 28 January 2010 This week, the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee of the New Hampshire House of Representatives voted 16-2 to study House Bill 1652, a proposed law to regulate and tax marijuana. H.B. 1652 is sponsored by Republican Calvin Pratt from Goffstown, Republican Timothy Comerford of Fremont, Democrat Joel Winters from Manchester, and Democrat Carla Skinder of Cornish. The CommonDreams.org report, below, is just one of this event now breaking on the net. By using MAP's newsbot http://drugnewsbot.org/nh you can follow news about New Hampshire cannabis legalization bill HB 1652 as the news breaks. Writing letters to the editor to newspapers in New Hampshire and the surrounding area about the proposed legislation keeps the issue in the mind of voters and lawmakers alike. Contacts for many newspapers may be found at http://mapinc.org/media.htm New Hampshire state representatives may be found at http://capwiz.com/norml2/home/ and urged to support HB 1652. Updated facts on marijuana you may wish to use are at http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/53 Many articles and opinion items about marijuana are posted daily in MAP's unique archive of drug policy news http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm . Breaking news about marijuana may be found at http://drugnewsbot.org/topic/cannabis.htm http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2010/01/28 Pubdate: January 28, 2010 10:03 AM Source:CommonDreams.org (Web) Author: Matt Simon NH House Committee Recommends Study of Bill That Would Tax and Regulate Marijuana Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee votes 16-2 to consider details of H.B. 1652 before moving bill forward CONCORD, N.H. - January 28 - Yesterday, the New Hampshire House of Representatives Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee voted 16-2 to "refer for interim study" H.B. 1652, a bill that would tax and regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. If the House concurs with this recommendation, the 20-member committee will proceed with a comprehensive study of the proposal. This vote is a promising sign that New Hampshire's lawmakers are willing to seriously discuss the possibility of ending marijuana prohibition in the Granite State. Previously, a vote to recommend that the bill "ought to pass" failed 8-10. Five Democrats and three Republicans voted in favor. Rep. Shannon Chandley (D-Milford), who voted against the first motion, told her colleagues, "I believe we should decriminalize marijuana," but said she felt the committee should take time to consider all the details of the bill before recommending it to the full House of Representatives. "This committee seems to understand that the prohibition of marijuana has been a terrible policy failure," said Matt Simon, executive director of the NH Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy. "We appreciate the fact that some members want to give this further study and make sure the details are correct before they move this bill forward." In 2009, an effort to override Gov. John Lynch's (D) veto of a medical marijuana bill passed the NH House but fell two votes short in the NH Senate. HB 1652 is sponsored by Rep. Calvin Pratt (R-Goffstown), Rep. Joel Winters (D-Manchester), Rep. Carla Skinder (D-Cornish), and Rep. Timothy Comerford (R-Fremont). Matt Simon, NH Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy http://www.nhcommonsense.org/ PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER Please post copies of your letters to the sent letter list () if you are subscribed. Subscribing to the Sent LTE list will help you to review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or approaches. To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form Suggestions for writing LTEs are at our Media Activism Center http://www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides Prepared by: Doug Snead * MAP Editor www.mapinc.org * International Drug Policy Analyst * www.drugnewsbot.org =.

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