marijuana decriminalization

N.H. Crime Lab Reduces Backlog After Marijuana Decriminalization Put In Effect

By • Mar 20, 2018
Dan Tuohy / NHPR

Six months ago, the State Police Forensic Laboratory had a backlog of about 3,600 cases. It’s now down to 1,600, and analysts are steadily chipping away at the number of controlled drug cases.

There are a few reasons for the progress, Director Timothy Pifer says. They’ve hired two extra chemists, for one.

Another factor: Marijuana decriminalization.

New Hampshire’s state law eliminating jail time for possession of a small amount of marijuana took effect in September of 2017.

Bill to Annul Convictions for Small Amounts of Pot Passes N.H. Committee

By • Feb 10, 2018
Dan Tuohy / NHPR

A bill to allow for annulment of criminal convictions for possession of small amounts of marijuana in New Hampshire has received a favorable recommendation from a House committee.

The legislation was drafted after Gov. Chris Sununu, R-Newfields, signed into law a measure to decriminalize possession of up to three-quarters of an ounce of pot. The law took effect Sept. 16, 2017. 

Marijuana Policy To Be Debated At N.H. Statehouse

By • Dec 28, 2017
FILE

A handful of lawmakers are proposing changes to some of the state’s policies on marijuana in 2018.

N.H. Marijuana Legalization Study to ID 'The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly'

By • Oct 20, 2017

A commission studying marijuana legalization is tasked with identifying “the good, the bad, and the ugly.”

That’s how Rep. Patrick Abrami sums it up. He’s the commission's chairman.

Abrami's outline of guidelines at the first meeting of the commission this week points to the workload ahead. And it hints at the disparate voices in this debate.

Abrami issued the good-bad-ugly bit to emphasize that the commission serve as a fact-finding body and that commissioners “leave our biases at home and objectively address this issue.”

N.H.'s Marijuana Decriminalization Law Now In Effect, But Do People Know Pot's Still Illegal?

By • Sep 18, 2017
Brenna Daugherty via Flickr Creative Commons / https://flic.kr/p/bEKokX

A new state law loosening the penalties on marijuana possession officially took effect this weekend. Police departments around the state are worried some residents may not fully understand what the change means.

Weekly N.H. News Roundup: July 21, 2017

By The Exchange • Jul 21, 2017

Two top officials at the VA Medical Center in Manchester were removed after a Boston Globe report detailing  allegations of substandard care at the facility.  New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner attends the first official meeting of the Trump administration’s election integrity commission.  And New Hampshire became the 22nd state and the last state in New England to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana.