State should approve pot possession measure

I want to thank The Telegraph for its thoughtful editorial on reducing marijuana possession penalties (Jan. 24: "Pot possession bill merits consideration").

This bill is a common-sense approach that can save money and police time, bring the sanctions more in line with the actual offenses, and spare people from being haunted by criminal records for no good reason.

All of our representatives should support it.

The New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police and the attorney general's office try to scare legislators with predictions of increased drug use.

But as The Telegraph points out, 12 other states have already eliminated penalties for minor marijuana possession in some form. In these states, rates of teen marijuana use are statistically equal to rates in those that have retained criminal penalties.

The latest state to decriminalize marijuana, Nevada, has seen a drop in teen marijuana use since the decriminalization law took effect in 2001.

All drugs are potentially harmful; marijuana is no exception. However, our current marijuana policies cause far more harm than marijuana use itself.

They drain precious criminal justice resources from our communities, make it difficult to keep marijuana from our children, and destroy the lives and families of otherwise law-abiding citizens.

It's time for a new approach.

Lou Eastman
Peterborough, NH

YOU read this week by SNHU Intern: Dan Burke