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NH Coalition Launches Presidential Project
05-29-07|NH Insider

The New Hampshire Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy (NH Common Sense) has created two new websites which announce and promote the group’s plans to raise drug and marijuana policy issues more effectively in the media.
NH Common Sense will participate in the presidential primary process as a focal point of raising its issues, and results of candidate interactions will be published at the websites: http://www.RescheduleCannabis.org and http://www.SendTheRightMessage.com

“Our issues have received some very good coverage in local and state media,” said NH Common Sense spokesman Matt Simon. “As we educate and activate responsible citizens in New Hampshire and across the country, we believe decriminalization and other marijuana reform issues can be raised more effectively in national media as well.”

New Hampshire got its first glimpse of NH Common Sense in January when the group rallied statewide support for a bill to decriminalize marijuana. Legislators recognized the responsible, thoughtful approach to activism espoused by the group, and an agreeable compromise was reached. In March, a Criminal Justice subcommittee declined to pass the bill (HB92), but subcommittee members were unanimous in saying they would support such a bill in the future if it was written to include appropriate limits. NH Common Sense expects such a bill will be filed in the state legislature for next year.

After closing that chapter in its ongoing effort to end Marijuana Prohibition in New Hampshire, NH Common Sense worked to assist the effort to pass a medical marijuana bill, HB 774. That bill nearly scored an upset victory in the house, but some legislators chose to believe the argument that marijuana policy is necessarily a federal issue and not a state issue.

After hearing one representative suggest that activists should instead be lobbying Washington, D.C., NH Common Sense decided to start making its case against the federal War on Marijuana. The organization developed its “Reschedule Cannabis!” and “Send the Right Message!” campaigns to bolster the national drug policy reform movement with responsible, New Hampshire-style activism.

As a grassroots network of New Hampshire citizens, NH Common Sense will capitalize on its unique access to the presidential primary process. The organization expects its efforts will be duplicated and supported by activists in other states, who will be instrumental in helping marijuana issues “trickle up” into mainstream national media.

Complete Title: NH Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy Launches Presidential Project