Celeste Clark is the executive director of Raymond Coalition For Youth.
If you had to choose between the promise of riches or the health and well-being of your family, I hope you would choose the latter. I hope our New Hampshire legislators will too.
Our NH legislature is once again dealing with a bill (HB 1598) to legalize marijuana in the state of New Hampshire. We have seen marijuana bills come through the halls in Concord for over twenty years in many forms, all in an effort to get more access to this drug into our state.
In that time, people concerned about the impact of marijuana have been raising concerns about the public health impact increasing access to this drug is going to have on our children and families. Each year the pro-marijuana business people promise the New Hampshire budget an abundance of money if they pass these bills into law.
They sell it that marijuana is a miracle drug that helps a state hit some form of a financial jackpot. These same people never want to talk about the endless woes that will also befall our state, the most concerning being increased addiction rates that impact individuals and families. New Hampshire is still struggling with the opioid epidemic that has cost hundreds of lives, and an impact our economy will see for decades to come in the form of physical, mental and social impacts. All of which affect our workforce and ultimately the New Hampshire budget in a very negative way. Make no mistake, increasing access to marijuana will increase addiction rates (JAMA Network), and most definitely negatively influence our budget.
The marijuana industry has been trying to get marijuana legalized and commercialized in New Hampshire for years and even they have come out in force against HB 1598. They do not approve of a state-run model because they will not be able to reap the benefits of opening their own stores and making money for themselves, once again proving that marijuana legalization is about money and who can make the most off the sales of this drug in its many new forms.
The marijuana industry people do not care about the impact on those who live in our state and want to raise a family in the fresh air of New Hampshire. Let’s hope our state leaders do and realize people are more important than money and New Hampshire does not need to take on this monopoly.
In 2013, New Hampshire became a state with therapeutic cannabis, also known as medical marijuana, now available in seven marijuana dispensaries located throughout New Hampshire for those who have qualified medical conditions.
In 2017, marijuana was decriminalized in New Hampshire. This means if a person is caught with a personal amount of marijuana, less than three-quarters of an ounce, they get a ticket to pay a $100 fine, very similar to a speeding ticket. You do not have to go to court and no one is going to jail for simply possessing a personal amount of marijuana.
HB 1598 goes to our senators next week with changes from the original bill. The large amounts of money promised when the bill was first presented have dramatically decreased and the money that was promised for prevention education is all but gone. False promises once again.
We have heard for years from the pro-pot people that all of the states around New Hampshire have legalized weed, why can’t New Hampshire? As the director of a youth coalition, one of the most challenging things we address with kids is youth empowerment and encouraging kids to be in the presence of positive influencers. This is the exact opposite of peer pressure and doing things just because everyone else is.
Let us hope our New Hampshire leaders, our senators and our governor will be positive influencers and strong role models for our kids. Let us hope they send a strong message, stand up and say New Hampshire is not going to succumb to peer pressure and legalize marijuana because some other states are doing it. Let us hope New Hampshire can stand tall, proud and drug-free because our youth and families are priceless, and no amount of false promises of money should take that away.