MARIJUANA BILL DRUBBED IN COMMITTEE

The marijuana decriminalization effort at the State House appears to
have gone up in smoke.

The Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday voted 4-0 against a bill that
would decriminalize possession of one-quarter of an ounce of the drug,
making it a violation rather than a misdemeanor.

The House passed the bill 193-141 last month. Gov. John Lynch
immediately issued a rare veto threat, and Senate leaders announced
their opposition to it.

In the House, sponsors focused their arguments on the fact that
college students convicted of drug offenses can lose access to federal
education assistance, a consequence they argued was too harsh.
Yesterday, Sen. Deborah Reynolds said New Hampshire is the wrong place
to fix that.

"It seems to me that maybe we need to be going to our congressional
delegation," Reynolds said. Meanwhile, she said, this bill would send
the wrong message: "Smoke a little pot, it's not a big deal." The
bill's prime sponsor, Rep. Jeff Fontas, held out little hope yesterday
that the Senate would overturn the committee vote, saying he doesn't
know of any senators who will argue in favor of the bill on the Senate
floor.

"No senator has told me that they're wiling to do that," said Fontas,
a 21-year-old Nashua Democrat.

A quarter of an ounce equates to about eight joints. At a public
hearing this week, opponents of decriminalization raised myriad
issues, including how the bill jibes with laws against transporting
marijuana or possessing paraphernalia. Some also raised the point that
marijuana today is more potent than it was a few decades ago.

"The 'small amount' is probably equal to a bag back in the '60s," said
Sen. Bob Letourneau, a Derry Republican.

For his part, Fontas said he was pleased that the bill had come this
far and hoped that the push would return in next year's legislative
session. He said he thought sponsors had been successful in changing
the debate about marijuana and getting people to talk about the law.

"Rather than focusing on the drug itself, we were saying, 'Hey, well,
regardless of the drug itself, it doesn't behoove us to have people
losing opportunities for education,' " he said.

Fontas said that he won't be back to make the case: He's decided not
to run for re-election so he can complete his college education.