NH House

Manchester Mayor and likely gubernatorial candidate Frank Guinta has called on state Rep. David Scannell to resign his position as spokesman for the Manchester school district after the representative voted in favor of decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana.

I like what School Board member Chris Herbert had to say: "I don't know what the mayor's deal is. A majority of the House voted for it." True, Scannell is in a unique position working for the school district, but shouldn't kids learn sometime that it is not contradictory to support marijuana decrim on the one hand and oppose drug use on the other.

HB 1354 was defeated yesterday by a vote of 279-19. The bill would have made it illegal to carry any firearm (open or concealed) or deadly weapon within the State House.

HB 1623, a bill that would decriminalize possession of marijuana under 1/4 of an ounce, passed the New Hampshire House of Representatives today by a vote of 193-141. Current law states that anyone in possession of 1/4 of an ounce or less can be sent to jail for a year and be fined up to $2,000; if passed by the Senate and signed by the Governor, the new law would abolish criminal penalties and reduce the fines to a maximum of $200.