U.S. Senate candidate Kelly Ayotte recently sent a mass mailer to select New Hampshire voters declaring that "doctors and patients should be making decisions on health care, not bureaucrats." Perhaps this means she has changed her position on HB 648, the medical marijuana bill which she opposed so strenuously earlier this year when she was attorney general?
The bill, which faces its final vote Oct. 28, would have faced few hurdles if Ayotte and her office had not opposed it so vociferously.
As a police officer, I have sworn an oath to enforce the laws of our state, but I do not think it is wise or appropriate for police officers or bureaucrats to interfere in health care decisions. I agree with the sentiment expressed in Ayotte's mailer, and I believe the medical marijuana issue provides a perfect test for whether Ayotte believes her own rhetoric. Unless she has changed her position on medical marijuana, the inconsistency is obvious.
I encourage all members of the Legislature to set aside their fears and vote to override Gov. John Lynch's veto.
If you or somebody you love was able to find relief from using marijuana to treat a horrible illness, wouldn't you want them to be protected from arrest?
BRADLEY JARDIS
Hooksett
(The writer is a police officer in Epping and a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.)
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Comments
liberal democrat partisan attack
By sailmaker - 10/22/2009 - 6:01 amjust a liberal democrat labor lacky getting in an attack against Kelly - probably took help from Kathy Sullivan to write this
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WITHOUT ALL THE BULL
By 1wildindian - 10/21/2009 - 11:59 pmApprove marijuana! I'm allergic to it! But, if it helps people, approve it! Doesn't take a lot of shin-kicking debate! Then the cops can move on to real criminals!
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Mr. Jardis, I think you lack
By rscalzo - 10/21/2009 - 7:15 pmMr. Jardis, I think you lack the understanding on how state government works
I think if you actually knew Mr. Jardis, you would know that few know more about the workings of the government at the city, state or national level. His position may be controversial but it is well thought out and not that out of line in today's world.
If one is afraid of the use of marijuana for medical reasons, then all medications should be banned because few are not at one time or another used in a illegal manner.
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Missed the point.
By AlexK - 10/21/2009 - 9:46 pmDid you even read my post, or just the first sentence? Personally, I don't care if this guy is a pothead. The point of my initial post was that from his letter the guy cannot draw a distinction between a personal opinion, and that of the position whose job is to enforce state law, so his letter is one big rant against the former AG. Just like Officer Jarvis can have his personal opinion by supporting the legalization of pot, I would sure hope he would enforce the law if he made a traffic stop and the vehicle contained illegal narcotics. If I were a resident of Epping, I would be asking the Police Officer to clarify this letter.
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cop = union = Democrat
By LIAMD2 - 10/21/2009 - 12:14 pmSee title - no axe to grind against a strong Republican here. Sexism probably isn't added into the equation either...yah right.
A good example of the problems with legalizing marijuana for "medical" reasons is California. In Los Angeles, there are more "medical" marijuana stores than schools. Last time I checked there was not a huge glaucoma problem in L.A. but there's a lot of stoned freaks wandering around.
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you don't know the whole story
By Budd123 - 10/21/2009 - 12:37 pmIf you check again you will see that the number of small "farmers" in California is deeply cutting into the profits of criminal organizations. It seems that no one who can grow it for free is willing to pay for the cartels' product. hmmmm....
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Is that why...
By LIAMD2 - 10/22/2009 - 12:38 pm...drug-related murder and violence is up along the US / Mexico border? C'mon. Put the bong down and grow up man.
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duh!
By Budd123 - 10/22/2009 - 3:05 pmYes, that is exactly why violence is up in ALL areas of black market drugs. Products on a black market are often sold at enormously inflated prices. The cartels are fighting for the vast profits to made selling illegal drugs at enormously inflated prices. If no one bought their product then they wouldn't have any profits and therefore no turf to fight over. When is the last time you saw bar owners forming gangs and gunning each other down? Oh yeah...when alcohol was ILLEGAL.
BTW. I don't use bongs. Vaporizers are much easier on the lungs.
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you sound like you're too old...
By LIAMD2 - 10/25/2009 - 8:57 am...to be fooling around with pot. Grow up man. Time to get out of your mother's basement, get a job, start a family, etc. You know, become a productive member of society.
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Ad Hominem
By Budd123 - 10/25/2009 - 11:37 amThis, children, is called an "ad hominem" attack. In a debate a person who can't respond directly to the points being raised will, in a last desperate attempt at credibility, attempt to distract from their lack of argument by attacking their opponent personally. Its rather sad actually.
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I tried to reply...
By LIAMD2 - 10/26/2009 - 2:48 pm...but the moderator wouldn't send it through. It's rather sad actually. I was going to say that I wasn't debating you, I was just calling your ideas simplistic. You've earned a new nickname, brown rose Budd.
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Simplistic? Yes.
By Budd123 - 10/26/2009 - 5:11 pmSometimes the truth is very simplistic and simple. You've called names but you haven't refuted the truth I laid out. Why? Because you can't. You know as well as I do that as soon as most potheads are allowed to grow their own little plot or buy legally at normal prices there is no way that the cartels are going to be able to sell their pitiful, inferior product at ANY price. They will lose their number one source of profits. Will they try to move on to other things? Yes, but since our police won't be spending time and money chasing potheads they will be free to catch real criminals. Can you answer me this? How come there are no "wine cartels" or "beer cartels?" How come there are only "drug cartels?"
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ok, let's say you're king for a day...
By LIAMD2 - 10/26/2009 - 9:13 pm...and pot is legal. Is there anyway for cops to tell whether or not someone has been smoking. I mean, they pull over a guy and check his pupils and sure they look dilated but can they conclusively tell he's under the influence? If not, what's going to stop bus drivers, crane operators, etc. from getting high before and during work? Grow up man. Put the vaporizer away and find a job.
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Good argument
By Budd123 - 10/27/2009 - 11:16 amSo your argument is that Pot has so little effect that one can't tell a stoned person from a sober person? Then what's the problem? But just to ease your mind there are ways of telling that cops are trained to recognize. For instance, eyes don't dilate with pot use.They get bloodshot. LSD and other hallucinogens dilate the pupils. If you're going to comment on the issue at least learn your subject. After all it must be embarrassing to be corrected by a pothead who lives in his mother's basement and doesn't have a job. Or perhaps you know as much about potheads as you do about pot...that would be nothing except what you've been told by others.
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Kelly Ayotte - strong and effective
By 4Liberty - 10/21/2009 - 12:02 pmI agree with Officer Jardis that making medical marijuana legal is the sensible, compassionate action in this matter. I too urge the Legislature to override the Governor's veto. This will make available to the sick and dying a natural substance to ease their discomfort without all the associated debilitating side effects, costs and profits to huge drug companies of manufactured prescription drugs. And if you don't think prescription drugs are dangerous, addictive and deadly just read the other Monitor article about Angie Horn...or check out the research on the #1 preventable killer of NH citizens...it's manufactured prescription drugs.
Bringing US Senatorial candidate, former AG Kelly Ayotte into this debate is interesting. Officer Jardis has made a very strong case for Ms. Ayotte. She is so bright, so hard-working and so effective that she could build such an effective position for the Governor, a Democratic Governor whose position on many issues she may or may not share. You have to admit that with her steadfast and effective success in supporting the Governor whose positions she was hired to support...damn she's good. How about we hire Ms. Ayotte to represent the citizens of New Hampshire in the US Sentate with that same steadfast, effective success!
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Don't spill the bong water Officer Jardis.
By AlexK - 10/21/2009 - 9:16 amMr. Jardis, I think you lack the understanding on how state government works. Mrs. Ayotte's anti pot position as AG was her representing the Governor, and overall states position on the issue, not her own. Your letter lacks constructive criticism, and is more of an attack on the former AG, rather than reasons why the bill should be vetoed.
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Heh
By Jonica Swiftly - 10/21/2009 - 9:01 amI imagine the equivalent of Ayotte's response would the sound of crickets chirping. Her position is typical - use the "keep government away from our health decisions" schtick, unless it's politically expedient to have government interfering. Utterly inconsistent.
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Ayotte and her garden patch
By kraftypat - 10/21/2009 - 11:58 amI can just picture her now out in her little garden patch tending her pot plants! Well she just has to be prepared to provide her own medication in case she has one of those "killer headaches" from all that campaigning. Ha-ha Some gardening a day keeps the bureaucrats away.
Pat Kraft
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Funny you should mention it....
By Budd123 - 10/21/2009 - 12:46 pmMany people who suffer from migraines have found that Cannabis relieves their symptoms. Of course I'm sure they are all lying because they want to get high on Marijuana instead of the Oxycontins, Morphine and other deadly painkillers they could get from their doctors. I wonder, if Marijuana is a gateway drug that leads to stronger stuff, why are these people refusing the stronger stuff and using Pot instead?
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