Laws governing the possession of marijuana in New Hampshire cost taxpayers millions of dollars to enforce and disproportionately harm Black residents, according to a new report from the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire.
Although marijuana possession for adults has been decriminalized since 2017 in New Hampshire, 1,494 people were arrested for carrying the drug in 2020. The ACLU-NH estimated that the law enforcement and judicial costs of those arrests totaled close to $3.25 million annually.
The report also highlighted stark racial disparities in arrest data for drug possession. Statewide, Black people are 4.8 times more likely to be arrested for possessing marijuana, with even higher disparities in Manchester and Concord.
In Concord, Black people are nearly six times more likely to be arrested than whites for marijuana possession. Concord police arrested 33 people in 2020, including six Black people, according to FBI data. While 18% of Concord’s marijuana charges were against Black people, about 3% of the city’s population is Black.
“New Hampshire’s war on marijuana does not make us safer, it wastes taxpayer dollars, and ruins lives — it’s time for it to end,” Frank Knaack, Policy Director at the ACLU of New Hampshire, said in a statement. “The human, economic, and racial justice impacts of our current marijuana laws are devastating. This year, New Hampshire lawmakers must listen to the nearly 75 percent of Granite Staters who support legalizing and finally legalize marijuana.”
The New Hampshire Senate is considering two bills, House Bill 1598 and House Bill 629, which would legalize marijuana use and possession by adults. HB 1598 would establish the sale and regulation of cannabis via the state liquor commission.
HB 1598’s sponsor Rep. Daryl Abbas told the New Hampshire Senate Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday that he has opposed a long list of recreational cannabis bills during his time in the New Hampshire House.
“I traditionally and historically have opposed any type of recreational cannabis policy,” said Abbas, a Salem Republican.
What’s changed his mind is a belief that marijuana legalization is inevitable. Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont have all legalized adult possession of marijuana over the last six years.
“It’s a matter of not if, it’s a matter of when,” Abbas said.
In addition to pushing for marijuana legalization, the report from ACLU-NH challenged House Bill 1476 and Senate Bill 294, which would both roll back aspects of cash bail reform passed in 2018.
Police chiefs from Bedford and Manchester have testified in public hearings that the current bail laws threaten public safety. Data from the New Hampshire Department of Safety in the report shows that between 2018 and 2020, crime and arrests have both been down statewide.