Editor's Update! On July 18, 2017, Gov. Chris Sununu signed HB 640, a marijuana decriminalization bill, into law. Under the new law, effective September 16, 2017, penalties for possessing three quarters of an ounce or less of marijuana are reduced from a criminal misdemeanor to a civil violation punishable only by a fine. Here is a great article for learning more about New England Marijuana Laws.
Few things get my goat more than when we see liberties expand in New Hampshire - as we saw recently with Constitutional Carry - and then the naysayers respond on Facebook with some version of "Still can't grow weed," or "Legalize MJ then I'll move."
Besides the giant red flag of demanding that other people expand your liberties for you before you commit to moving, it is frustrating when you consider how many years Granite State activists have been working on marijuana reform. An early mover posted the following in response to one such comment, and I thought it would be good to share for educational purposes:
- 1997, HB118 – Decrim <1½ oz.; killed in House
- 1998, HB1559 – Legal medical; killed in House
- 1999, HB87 – Decrim <1 oz.; killed in House (219-142)
- 2000, HB202 – Legal medical; interim study
- 2001, HB721 – Legal medical; killed in House (223-101)
- 2005, HB197 – Decrim all amounts; killed in House (295-60)
- 2005, HB238 – Legal medical; killed in House (252-116)
- 2007, HB92 – Decrim all amounts; died in House
- 2007, HB774 – Legal medical; killed in House (186-177)
- 2008, HB1623 – Decrim <¼ oz.; passed House (193-141); killed in Senate
- 2009, HB555 – Decrim <1 oz.; killed in House
- 2009, HB648 – Legal medical; passed House (234-138); passed Senate with amendment (14-10); revised in Committee of Conference; passed House (232-108); passed Senate (14-10); vetoed by governor; veto overridden in House (240-115); veto override failed in Senate (14-10)
- 2010, HB1652 – Legalize <1 oz.; interim study
- 2010, HB1653 – Decrim <¼ oz.; passed House (214-137); killed in Senate
- 2011, HB442 – Legal medical; passed House with amendment; died in Senate
- 2012, HB1526 – Decrim <½ oz.; passed House (162-161); killed in Senate
- 2012, HB1527 – Legal growing; killed in House
- 2012, HB1705 – Legalize <1 oz.; killed in House (228-89)
- 2012, SB409 – Legal medical; passed Senate with amendment (13-11); passed House as amended (236-96); vetoed by governor; veto override failed in Senate (13-10)
- 2013, HB337 – Legalize all amounts; killed in House (239-112)
- 2013, HB621 – Decrim <¼ oz.; passed House with amendment (136-193); killed in Senate
- 2014, HB492 – Legalize <1 oz.; killed in House (192-140)
- 2014, HB1625 – Decrim <1 oz.; passed House with amendment (215-92); died in Senate
- 2015, HB150 – Commission to study legalization; passed House; killed in Senate
- 2015, HB618 – Decrim <1 oz.; passed House with amendment (297-67); died in Senate
- 2016, HB1610 – Legalize <2 oz.; died in House
- 2016, HB1631 – Decrim <½ oz.; passed House (104-193); killed in Senate (14-10)
- 2016, HB1675 – Legalize <2.2 lb.; killed in House
- 2016, HB1694 – Legalize <1 oz.; killed in House (190-112)
- 2017, HB215 – Commission to study legalization; report filed
- 2017, HB640 – Decrim <1 oz.; report filed
- 2017, HB656 – Legalize <1 oz.; report filed
- 2017, SB233 – Legalize <1 oz.; in committee
New Hampshire is the only place in America where a marijuana legalization bill was contemplated by a legislative body and passed. Every other state where liberalization has occurred, it's been through citizens' or ballot initiatives. This tells you something about New Hampshire's citizen legislature, where representatives receive only $100 per year in salary. Instead of asking what others should do for you to move, come join the fun, and on top of the support of a dynamic community, you can take pride in knowing you are leading a purpose-driven life. Liberty in OUR Lifetime is up to us all individually.
Carla Gericke (JD, MFA) is an advocate of liberty specializing in localized voluntarism, self-determination, and how responsible human action can lead to peace and prosperity. She is president emeritus of the Free State Project, and lives in New Hampshire with thousands of fellow freedom fighters. In 2014, Carla won a landmark court case affirming the 1st Amendment right to film police encounters. She has appeared on WMUR, CNN, and Fox News, been featured in GQ and Playboy, been quoted in The Economist, and has discussed libertarianism on the BBC. She has visited more than 40 countries, hiked to the base camp of the 10th highest mountain in the world, lost a shoe in a taxi more than once, had her passport stolen in Goa, got kidnapped in Vietnam, and has noshed on more “mystery meat” street food than she cares to admit. Carla once spent an entire summer while working as in-house counsel at Logitech eating tuna fish sandwiches with Doug Engelbart (the Mother Of All Demos dude), she worked on Apple’s acquisition of Steve Job’s NeXT, and bought her first Bitcoin for $6. Carla co-hosts the Told You So podcast, and co-chairs Manch Talk TV. She serves on several non-profit boards, follows a Keto lifestyle (read about her transformation), practices yoga and shooting, and plays a mean game of Scrabble. Carla enjoys cooking, gardening, painting, reading, and watching documentary films. She has twice run for New Hampshire state Senate, garnering 42% of the vote in 2018 against an 11-term incumbent, and believes in 2020, third time will be the charm! Carla’s first book, The Ecstatic Pessimist, a collection of award-winning short stories, flashes fiction pieces, speeches, and essays about the Free State Project is now available on Kindle with the paperback coming out soon! Carla is organizing PorcFest, The Throwback! Buy your $25 tickets today and join us in the White Mountains, June 22-28.