On Thursday, April 25, the Senate Judiciary Committee will be holding hearings on two bills that would transform cannabis policy in the Granite State — legalization bill HB 1633 and annulment/resentencing bill HB 1539.
"Our federal marijuana laws perpetuate our broken criminal justice system, impede research, restrict veterans’ access, and hinder economic development."
Pat Robertson, chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network
"I really believe we should treat marijuana the way we treat beverage alcohol. If people can go into a liquor store and buy a bottle of alcohol and drink it at home legally, then why do we say that the use of this other substance is somehow criminal?"
David Irving, former NFL player
"I want to change the bias toward marijuana. I want to educate America that it’s not a drug, it’s medicine. The real reason I’m not in the NFL is that I’d rather be out here saving lives."
Arianna Huffington, author, syndicated columnist, and businesswoman
"It's not just the over $8 billion that we would be saving in law enforcement; it's also the over $8 billion that we would be making by taxing marijuana... We are filling our jails with nonviolent drug offenders ⎯ predominantly young, predominantly African American... It's a great beyond left and right issue. It has support across the political spectrum and also the support of the majority of the American people."
Carl Sagan, astronomer, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, and author
"The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world."
DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Francis L. Young
"Marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical care. ... It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance in light of the evidence in this record."
Joe Montana, former NFL player
"Legalization is picking up steam on a global level and I feel like now is the time to spread information about the curing capabilities of this plant. As with any medicine, increased accessibility comes with the need for education."
Former President Jimmy Carter
"Penalties against drug use should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself. Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against the possession of marijuana in private for personal use."