New Hampshire
How Long Will NH Stay ‘an Island in New England’ Without Legal Marijuana?
It might be the “dwell free or die” state, however relating to getting marijuana, folks in New Hampshire are definitely much less free than elsewhere in New England.
When hashish was allowed for leisure use in Rhode Island this Could, New Hampshire was left as the one state within the area that has but to legalize the drug. That is although about three quarters of state residents assist legalization, in line with a current ballot.
Lawmakers do not share that very same broad enthusiasm for legalization, from the State Home to the governor’s workplace, the place current makes an attempt to alter marijuana legislation have died.
Two payments legalizing the possession of hashish — one proposing gross sales to adults by liquor shops — had been rejected by the Senate in April, regardless of being authorized by the Home. In 2019, Gov. Chris Sununu vetoed a invoice that may have allowed residents to home-grow their very own hashish vegetation.
However Sununu’s stance has wavered in current months. Now he, like loads of different folks in New Hampshire, appears to assume it is a matter of time for the legislation to alter.
“I believe it’s going to in the end occur in New Hampshire,” he informed the New England Council in March. “It may very well be inevitable.”
Connecticut is taking an vital step towards legalizing leisure marijuana. This week, a invoice handed the state Senate that may enable for leisure hashish beginning in 2022. The invoice now heads to the Home. So whereas Connecticut debates the legalization of leisure marijuana, the place does the remainder of New England stand?
Lawmakers have already decriminalized small quantities of marijuana in New Hampshire and annulled the data of these locked up for marijuana possession. So what is going to it take for the state to hitch its neighbors and make it absolutely authorized? It might simply be a matter of determining tips on how to do it.
Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, a Democrat from Manchester, voted in opposition to the current invoice, saying that utilizing publicly owned liquor shops to manage marijuana is “crude.”
“If marijuana is to be legalized, we’ve received to provide you with a significantly better methodology of dealing with it,” he stated. The invoice “couldn’t have been administered. Because of this, you’d’ve had chaos.”
If that may be labored out, Sununu has signaled he’d be open to signing the legislation — he reiterated that to NBC10 Boston this week. Till then, New Hampshire residents must preserve crossing the border to purchase marijuana.
Public notion vs. legislative motion
There’s broad public assist for marijuana legalization within the Granite State, and that is been true for years.
College of New Hampshire political science professor Andrew E. Smith, who’s been polling assist for legalization, present in 2013, when the primary states within the U.S. had been passing legal guidelines legalizing marijuana, that 49% of individuals in New Hampshire supported the same legislation, with 45% opposed.
Help has risen since, reaching 74% in a UNH ballot Smith helped conduct this February. Solely 15% of respondents had been opposed; the remaining had been impartial.
“My sense is it can ultimately get handed,” Smith stated.
Whereas assist for marijuana legalization has traditionally come from Democrats and younger folks, Smith’s February ballot exhibits greater than two thirds of independents and barely over half of Republicans in New Hampshire had been in favor of the invoice legalizing marijuana gross sales in state-run liquor shops that was rejected by Senate in April.
Actually, Smith stated that greater than half of Republicans have backed legalization since 2017. And two out of three seniors now assist it.
“Sadly, on this case the senators are out of step with their constituencies,” stated Jax James, state coverage supervisor of NORML, a corporation that advocates for the reform of marijuana legal guidelines. “We see this not simply with hashish coverage however with different insurance policies, the place maybe the legislators’ private opinions get in the way in which of representing the folks of their district.”
New Jersey, Arizona, Montana and South Dakota voted on Election Day to authorize using leisure marijuana, whereas Mississippi made medicinal use authorized. Ryan Vandrey, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins College, breaks down the ripple impact of this inexperienced wave.
With hashish now authorized in 18 states and Washington, D.C., Republicans — normally the get together that opposes legalization — are gaining “a extra sensible understanding of the dangers and advantages of hashish,” stated Karen O’Keefe, director of state insurance policies on the Marijuana Coverage Challenge.
“Should you take a look at conservative rules of small authorities and particular person liberty, legalizing hashish is true according to that perception system,” she stated.
Sununu could also be coming round to the same place. Requested this week for his stance on legalization, Sununu reiterated a press release he is been giving information shops this yr.
“I’ve been extra progressive on the problems surrounding marijuana reform than some other Governor in New Hampshire historical past. After years of inaction by Democrat governors, I signed commonsense decriminalization, expanded entry to medical marijuana, and offered a pathway to annul previous convictions for marijuana possession,” he stated in an electronic mail.
He indicated he is open to contemplating legalizing marijuana as nicely, although he did not go as far as to say he supported it.
“The legislature has by no means despatched a legalization invoice to my desk — it has failed within the Senate repeatedly, in each Republican-held years and Democrat-held years,” Sununu stated. “Ought to they attain consensus and compromise, then I’d evaluation any such laws and decide whether or not it’s in the perfect pursuits of New Hampshire’s residents.”
Although the Home has authorized a number of legalization payments, these efforts have failed within the Senate repeatedly.
After simply passing by the Home in a 241-113 vote, the latest invoice that may have legalized possession and use of marijuana for adults was rejected by the Senate 15-9.
“New Hampshire has grow to be an island in New England with our overly burdensome laws of hashish which are out of sync with what the scientific well being and social knowledge says, and most significantly, with what New Hampshire voters need,” Sen. Becky Whitley, D-Harmony, informed colleagues earlier than the Senate vote.
Leisure marijuana has been authorized in Massachusetts for weeks now and questions are arising on the way it impacts the legislation. Answering questions on the authorized points of authorized pot is former Suffolk County prosecutor and present legal professional, Philip A. Tracy Jr. He additionally discusses the battle the Merrimack Valley continues to face and the current dying of a employee at a Boston development firm.
It didn’t sway the vast majority of senators, together with D’Alessandro, who concluded the legalization of hashish in surrounding states shouldn’t dictate laws in New Hampshire.
“It is like leaping off the bridge,” he informed NBC10 Boston. “Simply because all people’s leaping off the bridge, does that imply it’s a must to soar off the bridge?”
For now, the established order stays in New Hampshire. However the Senate’s resistance to hashish does not imply residents aren’t discovering methods to get their arms on it.
The View From Outdoors NH
Brendan McKee has loads of loyal hashish clients in New Hampshire, he says. They only do not store there.
The proprietor of Silver Therapeutics, a dispensary with places in Maine and Massachusetts close to the New Hampshire border, says he is seen firsthand the impact of the marijuana insurance policies in neighboring states on New Hampshire residents, who usually journey hours and cross state strains to be able to buy hashish.
“It would not add up, it would not compute,” McKee stated. “So many individuals profit from this plant, and it is heartbreaking that folk should drive an hour, two hours, even three hours-plus to be able to entry it.”
However he shares a view with others that New Hampshire can profit from the truth that it is surrounded by examples of tips on how to legalize. Lawmakers can “cherry decide what’s working and what’s not,” McKee stated.
It took years for Massachusetts to ramp up the marijuana enterprise after it was legalized in 2016, inflicting frustration in the course of the rollout. However six years later, enterprise is booming.
Simply two years after the primary adult-use pot outlets on the East Coast opened for enterprise in 2018, marijuana gross sales in Massachusetts surpassed $1 billion, then $2 billion lower than a yr after that, in line with the state’s Hashish Management Fee.
Mikayla Bell of New England Remedy Entry solutions some frequent questions on shopping for marijuana from leisure and medical dispensaries in Massachusetts, additionally giving useful ideas for brand spanking new customers.
Most residents approve of the state’s implementation — a ballot launched final yr by UMass Amherst discovered that solely 13% of Massachusetts residents thought the legalization of marijuana negatively impacted the state. Sixty-one p.c stated its impact was constructive and 25% of voters had been impartial.
“When Massachusetts began to launch, that they had a 32-person board, [with] of us from everywhere in the nation, significantly of us from authorized states that would present potential enter,” McKee famous.
He praised the state for its efforts to realize a nationwide perspective on the problem, and inspired New Hampshire to do the identical.
Mainers confronted a good longer delay till the beginning of leisure marijuana gross sales, because the state legalized the drug for non-medical use in 2016 however didn’t arrange the retail trade till October 2020. However, like Massachusetts, enterprise shortly ramped up, and hashish is now Maine’s most useful agricultural product in gross sales.
Understanding opponents’ objections to legalization
A number of lawmakers do not see marijuana as a enterprise alternative, however a hazard. Their objections to marijuana have usually centered on the well being dangers of the drug and the way it could connect with the opioid disaster.
Whereas most of America has been seeing a rise in opioid-related deaths, New Hampshire’s charge has fallen quicker than some other state’s, a pattern Sununu has beforehand pointed to when saying it wasn’t but time to legalize hashish.
New Hampshire’s charge of drug overdose deaths was the one one within the nation that noticed a lower of greater than 5% in 2020, the latest yr obtainable, in line with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention. That yr, Massachusetts had a 5% improve in drug overdose deaths, nonetheless among the many smallest within the nation, whereas Vermont noticed a rise of over 38%, placing it within the backside third of the record.
The rise is “problematic for Massachusetts and for our nation,” stated Commissioner Margret Cooke.
Whereas Sununu has claimed New Hampshire’s spectacular downward pattern is correlated with its continued prohibition of marijuana, others argue that the decline in deaths — principally from opioids like heroin — has nothing to do with hashish legalization.
“Individuals are not dying from simply utilizing hashish,” stated James. “Conflating different illicit medication with the hashish plant will not be solely disingenuous however not factual in any respect.”‘
One other fear that state leaders cite round marijuana is the worry that legalization will carry elevated teen use, and that the rising ranges of THC — the primary psychoactive part of hashish — in marijuana merchandise could pose a danger to those that do not need absolutely fashioned brains but.
“Should you’re below [25], then we wish you to know what all the chance components are, as a result of they may the truth is affect you for a really very long time,” stated state Rep. Sue Mullen, of Bedford, in an April digital discussion board for the advocacy group New Futures.
However hashish has been proven to be helpful in some circumstances. Medical marijuana was legalized in New Hampshire in 2013, and may present remedy to sufferers with quite a lot of situations, together with Alzheimer’s illness and most cancers. Though Sununu has voiced issues on the hazards of marijuana associated to the opioid disaster, final yr he signed off on a invoice that added opioid use dysfunction to the record of situations that qualify for medical hashish.
O’Keefe helps loosening medical marijuana legal guidelines even additional. Many sufferers “are simply utilizing hashish after surgical procedure, for ache, or for sleeping, they usually need to have that possibility,” she stated.
The hazy way forward for hashish legislation in NH
It is unclear if the problem of marijuana will probably be a recreation changer on the polls. However contemplating the widespread assist from New Hampshire residents, and the state’s new repute as “an island in New England” relating to the drug, some lawmakers are claiming it could be extra vital now than ever.
“New Hampshire voters need us to make this variation,” Whitley declared on the Senate session in April. “And it has grow to be the time to take action.”
Sununu has introduced he’ll run for reelection this fall, and if he wins he’ll serve a fourth time period as state governor. He hasn’t introduced if he is for or in opposition to marijuana legalization, however his doubtless opponent within the basic election has.
State Sen. Tom Sherman, a health care provider who represents Hampton, voted to go the legalization invoice in April, and the Democrat has stated he’d assist legalizing hashish to forestall it from being laced with harmful and addictive medication.
If he had been to win in November, New Hampshire would doubtless be a step nearer to being a little bit greener.
New Hampshire
Employee found dead at New Hampshire state agency, state police say
An investigation is underway after an employee was found dead at the New Hampshire Insurance Department, state police said Monday night.
Around 9 a.m. Monday, State Police responded to the New Hampshire Insurance Department at 21 South Fruit St. in Concord after receiving a report that an adult male employee had been found dead at the agency.
Investigators at this time do not believe the man’s death is suspicious. There is no threat to public safety, state police said in a statement around 7 p.m. Monday.
The employee was not identified pending an ongoing investigation.
“Troopers secured the scene and an investigation remains ongoing,” state police said.
Authorities did not immediately release information about the man’s death, but provided information for the public to access in times of mental health crisis.
“The State Police remind anyone struggling with a mental health crisis that help is available,” state police said. “Anyone can call or text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 9-8-8 for free and confidential support for themselves, a friend or a loved one.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
New Hampshire
‘Unforgiving environment’: Dozens of hikers rescued each year in the White Mountains – The Boston Globe
The pair were unprepared for hiking in winter conditions: no sleeping bags, matches, phones, or any way of calling for help. They spent a brutal night on the mountain, both men succumbing to hypothermia before rescuers using a helicopter found them the next day. Osborne lost part of his right leg; Frederickson lost his life.
Osborne’s is but one of the many unforgiving lessons the White Mountains deliver on a regular basis to any hiker who underestimates its harsh and unpredictable conditions: In an eerie echo of the tragedy 16 years ago, on Thursday, another winter hiker suffered severe hypothermia and had to be rescued by helicopter from the very same mountain after becoming trapped overnight by deep snow and freezing conditions.
“People underestimate just how unforgiving the White Mountains can be,” said Ty Gagne, an avid hiker and author of three books about trouble in the White Mountains, including Osborne’s case. “I think there’s a certain amount of complacency that can happen because they’re four to six thousand feet.”
There have been more than 60 search-and-rescue efforts in the Whites just since June, including one in November in which two siblings had become hypothermic while hiking on the Lincoln Brook Trail. And, in the last five years alone, at least 20 more people have died in the White Mountains.
New Hampshire usually averages more than 100 hiker rescues a year, roughly half of them in the Whites, according to a New England-based hiking podcast group that tallied search-and -escue information from the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.
With its easy access and proximity to large urban centers, the Whites have long been a destination for millions of hikers annually. The range boasts panoramic vistas, pristine lakes, and lush forests, plus the highest peak in the Northeast: Mount Washington, which stands at nearly 6,300 feet.
But the allure can also bring danger.
Climbers can easily get injured in the steep, uneven terrain. Since 2019, more than 250 hikers in New Hampshire have been rescued with lower leg injuries. About 40 succumbed to fatigue. Nearly 150 panicked or got lost.
“The mountains don’t care. They don’t discriminate,” said Gagne. “It doesn’t matter if you’re coming there with a young family, or if you’ve climbed 14,000 footers out west … the mountains aren’t going to relent. It can be a really unpredictable, unforgiving environment.”
As the winter weather descends on New England, the danger can compound.
“The clock is on, the second you’re immobile. Hypothermia sets in very quickly” said Mike McLaughlin, an experienced hiker and host of the Sounds Like a Search and Rescue podcast. “If you feel like you’re in a situation where you can’t get out, call for a rescue immediately.”
Franconia Ridge consistently requires the most rescues, with 68 in the past five years, data show. Mount Washington and Mount Chocorua were not far behind, with 60 and 42 rescues, respectively. All three are in the White Mountains.
Most rescue operations aren’t swift or easy, officials caution.
People “think you’re going to swoop in with a helicopter and pick them up. That’s not the way it works. It’s going to take three to four hours,” said Kevin Jordan, chief of law enforcement for New Hampshire Fish and Game.
Jordan leads a team of more than 40 search-and-rescue officers across six districts in New Hampshire. The group completed nearly 2,000 missions between 2009 and 2019, according to a report from the department.
In some cases, Jordan said, rescues had to be called off because weather conditions were too hazardous. Two of his officers are out with injuries for December.
The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, which carries out most hiker rescues, recommends packing the following essential items for winter hiking: a map, compass, headlamp, fire starter, first aid kit, whistle, knife, warm clothing, extra food and water, and rain jackets and pants.
They also run the Hike Safe program, where hikers can buy a card that covers the cost of search-and-rescue operations in emergencies. The website also has additional safety tips.
Osborne and other rescued hikers say the work that Fish and Game does is crucial.
“They just have an incredibly important role for the protection of people,” said Osborne. Without rescuers, “plenty of people wouldn’t be here.”
Neena Hagen can be reached at neena.hagen@globe.com.
New Hampshire
NH Lottery Lucky For Life, Pick 3 Day winning numbers for Dec. 22, 2024
The New Hampshire Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024 results for each game:
Winning Lucky For Life numbers from Dec. 22 drawing
04-07-37-43-47, Lucky Ball: 08
Check Lucky For Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from Dec. 22 drawing
Day: 3-6-9
Evening: 5-5-9
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from Dec. 22 drawing
Day: 2-6-0-7
Evening: 4-8-4-2
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the New Hampshire Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 10:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Pick 3, 4: 1:10 p.m. and 6:55 p.m. daily.
- Mega Millions: 11:00 p.m. Tuesday and Friday.
- Megabucks Plus: 7:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Lucky for Life: 10:38 p.m. daily.
- Gimme 5: 6:55 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Winning lottery numbers are sponsored by Jackpocket, the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY Network.
Where can you buy lottery tickets?
Tickets can be purchased in person at gas stations, convenience stores and grocery stores. Some airport terminals may also sell lottery tickets.
You can also order tickets online through Jackpocket, the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY Network, in these U.S. states and territories: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Texas, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia. The Jackpocket app allows you to pick your lottery game and numbers, place your order, see your ticket and collect your winnings all using your phone or home computer.
Jackpocket is the official digital lottery courier of the USA TODAY Network. Gannett may earn revenue for audience referrals to Jackpocket services. GAMBLING PROBLEM? CALL 1-800-GAMBLER, Call 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY). 18+ (19+ in NE, 21+ in AZ). Physically present where Jackpocket operates. Jackpocket is not affiliated with any State Lottery. Eligibility Restrictions apply. Void where prohibited. Terms: jackpocket.com/tos.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a New Hampshire managing editor. You can send feedback using this form.
-
Technology1 week ago
OpenAI cofounder Ilya Sutskever says the way AI is built is about to change
-
Politics1 week ago
U.S. Supreme Court will decide if oil industry may sue to block California's zero-emissions goal
-
Business1 week ago
Freddie Freeman's World Series walk-off grand slam baseball sells at auction for $1.56 million
-
Technology1 week ago
Meta’s Instagram boss: who posted something matters more in the AI age
-
News1 week ago
East’s wintry mix could make travel dicey. And yes, that was a tornado in Calif.
-
Technology3 days ago
Google’s counteroffer to the government trying to break it up is unbundling Android apps
-
Politics4 days ago
Illegal immigrant sexually abused child in the U.S. after being removed from the country five times
-
News4 days ago
Novo Nordisk shares tumble as weight-loss drug trial data disappoints