The Franklin Youth Initiative Speaks Against Cannabis Decriminalization

by Garret Ean | Feb 5, 2012 | 22 comments

As the NH house and senate return to a full schedule for public hearings, I’ve made an effort to maintain camera coverage for certain bills. Last week was a house hearing on HB 1705, which would heavily restrict, but effectively legalize home consumption of cannabis in the state of New Hampshire. The ‘tax and regulate’ bill was complimented with a decriminalization bill. The decrim bill, heard on February 2nd, would have set the penalty for cannabis possession of under an ounce at a $100 fine. The bill was amended to criminalize the third possession, so in a sense, this bill only decriminalizes cannabis possession for one’s first two offenses. The bills are imperfect, as all are, but both represent a very progressive step forward for cannabis policy reform in New Hampshire, a state which is far behind all other New England political subdivisions in this sense.

As is to be expected, those that escalate the drug war, the enforcers who invest their consciences into the fight, will speak at hearings impassioned to continue what they consider to be important work. Occasionally, those who are invested in such work recognize it to be harmful in nature, and separate themselves from the job that they do to speak out against the ill caused by the role that they play. Such rejection of the standard rally cry to continue the war on drugs is voiced by Richard Van Wickler, who in his day job is the administrator of the Cheshire county jail. He comes to the hearing acknowledging that he is not representing the role he plays at his job, and that he has taken a vacation day to express his personal feelings before decision makers in Concord. Richard is one of the few speakers on behalf of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition who is currently employed in the criminal justice industry, showing how unpopular holding such a viewpoint is while actively working in the field. Below is a link to his testimony favoring the legalization legislation, as filmed by Biker Bill.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=vKVpBk9OHbM

Prohibition’s latest warriors

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