Pot Debate

PROPOSED BILL WOULD DECRIMINALIZE POSSESSION OF SMALL AMOUNT OF MARIJUANA

CONCORD (AP) - A New Hampshire lawmaker is sponsoring a bill to
decriminalize possession of up to an ounce of marijuana, one year
after a similar measure died in the state Senate.

Democratic Rep. Steven Lindsey's bill is mirrored after a similar law
passed by Massachusetts voters last year. It would impose a maximum
fine of $100 on those caught with an ounce of marijuana or less.
Minors would have to complete a drug-treatment program and community
service or face an additional fine of $1,000.

Lindsey called the state's possession law draconian at a hearing Tuesday.

Possession of an ounce or less is a misdemeanor under current law,
with a possible prison sentence of up to one year. Karin Eckel, an
assistant attorney general in New Hampshire, said first-time
offenders rarely receive jail time.

She also said the bill could provide loopholes for drug dealers, many
of whom sell marijuana in small amounts.

Other law enforcement officials echoed those concerns. State Police
Maj. Russel Conte told lawmakers that marijuana use and trafficking
has a devastating impact on rural communities in New Hampshire.

"This is not just a metropolitan problem," Conte said. "This is a
problem that reaches everywhere."

Conte said he has seen countless examples of young people unable to
hold jobs or care for their children because of frequent marijuana use.

Claire Ebel, head of the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union,
countered that the same could be said of legal drugs such as alcohol,
which kill hundreds of thousands each year.

"There has never been a single case of marijuana being declared the
cause of death of a person in the U.S.," Ebel said.

Voters in Massachusetts approved a ballot question decriminalizing
possession of up to an ounce of marijuana in November. The law took
effect in January.

Terrell Harris, spokesman for the Massachusetts public safety
department, said the agency has no data on the number of citations
given for possession since then.

A bill to decriminalize one quarter of an ounce passed in the New
Hampshire House last year. It died in the Senate after Gov. John
Lynch threatened a veto.

[Sidebar] The Pot Debate((

How well is the legal crackdown on marijuana working: Is it a good
way to reduce drug abuse, or a waste of money? These stories look at
the issue, examining the opinions of those who make the law, those
who enforce it, and those who run afoul of it.

Visit The Telegraph's Pot Debate page for an archive of all articles
in this series.