COURAGEOUS REPS

Ginger Merrill criticized the House for passing a bill reducing
marijuana possession penalties, implying that small-time violators
deserve to be saddled with a conviction that can follow them for a
lifetime ("What were House lawmakers smoking?" Monitor letter, March
23).

Her reasoning that such a reform is somehow comparable to
hypothetically reducing penalties for driving while intoxicated only
makes sense if you believe a college student caught with a marijuana
cigarette is as dangerous as a drunk driver. Which are New Hampshire
citizens personally more afraid of, a stoned teenager wasting a few
unproductive hours on the couch or a maniac who thinks he's Mario
Andretti after a dozen beers?

Reasonable people ought to agree that marijuana prohibition has
unintended consequences which are undesirable. And for most people,
it's a given that punishments should be tailored to the severity of
the offense.

The problem, it seems, is putting the two thoughts together, but last
week 193 representatives, both Democrat and Republican, showed they
knew how to add.

New Hampshire's current policy of threatening low-level offenders with
up to a year in jail is way out of proportion to the severity of the
violation - to the benefit of nobody. Thank goodness the House had the
good sense to recognize this and the courage to correct it.

Denis Goddard,

Concord