Pubdate: Mon, 18 Feb 2008
Source: Eagle-Tribune, The (MA)
Copyright: 2008 The Eagle-Tribune
Contact:  http://www.eagletribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/129
Author: Margo  Sullivan
Cited: Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy 
http://www.nhcommonsense.org/

N.H. DEBATES MARIJUANA DECRIMINALIZATION

Ex-Salem Officer, Kingston Rep. Back Bill

WINDHAM - Retired Salem police Officer John Tomassi is among a
handful of police officers who believe the criminal penalties for
marijuana  possession are too severe.

Tomassi, a Windham resident, is testifying in support of a New
Hampshire bill to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana. If passed,
people  caught with a quarter ounce of pot would receive a ticket and
a maximum $200  fine. Attempts to legalize marijuana have failed in
the past. But last  week, a House subcommittee passed this bill 3-1
with some amendments. The measure still has a long way to go before it
becomes law, and  David Welch, R-Kingston, predicts this new attempt
to reform marijuana laws will  also go up in smoke.

Yet, he was one of the three who voted for the bill. Welch wants
lawmakers to debate the issue and said if the bill has a chance of
passage, it  would make for a livelier discussion.

"We haven't had the debate in a long time," Welch said. The move to
debate marijuana use comes from the plight of teens  who smoked pot in
high school and find out later a drug conviction has  disqualified
them for college grants, he said.

Ideally, Welch said, the publicity about the bill will "hit the
streets" and young people experimenting with marijuana will hear about
the  consequences and not use drugs. Meanwhile, lawmakers can consider
if New  Hampshire should join other states, including Maine, that have
reduced the  penalties. "We need to have a good discussion and find
out if this is  something we want to do," he said.

So far, 12 states have decriminalized marijuana, according to  Matt
Simon, executive director of the New Hampshire Coalition for Common
Sense  Marijuana Policy. He called the vote evidence of "growing
consensus among  legislators that New Hampshire's penalties for simple
marijuana possession are  unnecessarily harsh." Simon, who has taught
college classes, said he witnessed the  impact on his students, their
families, and the youths' future employment  prospects. "It's a case
of the cough syrup being worse than the cough,"  Simon said. These
teens do not deserve to be followed through life by a  criminal
record, he added. Tomassi, who now teaches economics at Bentley
College, sees the  problem from both an economic and law enforcement
perspective.

Legalization would not end the nation's drug problem but it would
stop the violence, he said. Last year, 1.8 million people were charged
with drug crimes, Tomassi said.

"You would like to think most of them were major drug dealers,"  he
said. But most were charged with marijuana possession. Tomassi said
drug  dealers fear the legalization of drugs, which would dry up their
profits and put  them out of business. He draws a parallel between the
current situation and  crime during Prohibition.

Most police officers, however, are telling lawmakers that  reducing
the penalty for marijuana would send the wrong message to teens, said
Ellen Neilsen, D-Claremont. Neilsen said police testimony is taken
seriously,  but she still believes the war on drugs has been a failure.

"We need to try a new approach," she said, and consider  separating
marijuana from more serious drugs, such as heroin.

John Tholl, R-Whitefield, also voted not to kill the bill and,  like
Welch, wants a debate on the issues.

"I have mixed feelings about the whole thing," said Tholl, who is  a
police chief. But he pointed out that the courts are treating
marijuana  possession cases more like violations.

"To be honest, most convicted people pay a fine," he said. "What  kind
of message does that send to kids?" Tholl also said he voted for the
bill  to make sure it was amended.

The original version would have decriminalized possession of  11/4
ounces of marijuana. That's now a felony, Tholl said, noting he would
not favor seeing it  reduced to a violation.
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