CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE — After being rejected by the Senate Judiciary Committee in a 4-0 vote last Thursday, HB 1623 was defeated this afternoon in a voice vote by the full Senate. The bill, which would have reduced the penalty for possessing less than a quarter ounce of marijuana, had been marked for death since it received a rare veto threat from Governor Lynch following passage by the House.

Matt Simon, executive director of the NH Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy, was not discouraged by the result. “A strong majority of voters now understand that our marijuana laws were written for the 1970’s, and that they need to be updated for the 21st Century,” he explained. “Through this process, I think we have demonstrated that a reform of this nature is both wise and inevitable.”

Simon cited the 193-141 House vote as a turning point for marijuana reform in New Hampshire. “It’s tough to raise this kind of issue in an election year,” he said, “but given the results from our recent poll, we’re confident that decision-makers will catch up with public opinion when the next opportunity arises.”

Congratulations to the reformers who have moved decrim forward in the Granite State. Matt is right; just getting a passage from the House is a major accomplishment. Don’t be too discouraged about losing this battle, because we keep making progress on winning the war.

Tags: New Hampshire

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 1st, 2008 at 3:17 pm and is filed under 4:20 NewsHour, Decriminalization. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a trackback from your own site.