EASY ON POT USERS

HANOVER -- An article on next Tuesday's town meeting warrant asks
voters whether police ought to make arresting medicinal marijuana
users their lowest priority.

But a vote in favor would have no impact on town policy, Town Manager
Julia Griffin said.

"As currently written, this article by petition cannot legally be
enforced by town staff, because it violates state law," she said. "-
We certainly understand where people are coming from. It's not that we
don't appreciate their position."

The petitioned warrant article says Hanover police would be "urged"
not to arrest people age 21 and over for marijuana possession if the
person can produce a doctor's note showing that marijuana "would
likely provide therapeutic benefit" for the person's medical
condition. The policy wouldn't apply to distribution, sales or driving
under the influence of marijuana.

Town attorney Walter Mitchell, however, has said state law supersedes
town policy, so the article is unenforceable even if approved.

Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana, the New Hampshire branch of the
Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project, submitted the article
to town hall in early April with the signatures of 26 Hanover
residents (25 were required).

The group was involved in unsuccessful efforts earlier this year to
pass House Bill 774. Had it passed, the bill would have made marijuana
use legal for patients with certain serious illnesses. Among the
bill's sponsors was State Rep. Lee Hammond, a Lebanon Democrat.

Griffin said she expects some lively debate on the marijuana issue
Tuesday in addition to conversation about another warrant article that
addresses climate change issues and related Congressional action plans.

Other than that, Griffin said, this year's town meeting is basically
devoid of controversial topics.

"It's what I would define as a pretty basic town meeting warrant," she
said.

A group of minor zoning amendments has so far generated little debate,
and other expenditures involve mostly road repairs and donations to
social service agencies.

The proposed $20.8 million town budget for 2007-2008 would increase
the tax rate by about 6 percent, from $4.31 to $4.57 per $1,000 of
assessed property value.

Total expenditures represent an approximately 13 percent increase in
spending over last year, Griffin said.

The budget includes $50,000 to be used with a $100,000 Homeland
Security grant to connect the Lebanon and Hanover dispatch centers
using fiber optic cables, enabling each community to dispatch for the
other in the event of an emergency.