"The REAL problem with marijuana in the state of NH..."

That's criminal defense attorney Mark Sisti, speaking in the title. Here's the whole statement (from about a minute-and-a-half past the hour-and-a-half mark):

"The real problem with marijuana in the state of NH, the problem that we have, is that it is illegal. That is the problem."

Add to his "criminal justice" perspective the idea that prototypically fundamental to liberty is the concept of unilateral control over our own respective bodies. A foundational litmus test to the philosophy of self-ownership.

So the problem, as always, is fiat prohibition. Of substances. Of objects. Of behavior. Unauthorized prohibition. Market-defying prohibition. Winners-and-losers-picking prohibition. Rights-violating prohibition. Constitution-overstepping prohibition. And on this fiat prohibition, yes, "Live Free or Die" NH is now a painfully conspicuous "island of prohibition". Does that seem right to you? Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more...

Here we have, before the NH House Criminal Justice Committee, 1/23/2020, HB1648, "relative to the home cultivation of cannabis plants and the possession of certain cannabis-infused products". Legalization. Yet even still again. But without the nasty "commerce" bit this time (because evidently Republicans are opposed to commerce -- and, for that matter, Constitutionally limited authority -- who knew...?)

Only one devoutly prohibitionist state rep and the ever-reliably prohibitionist New Futures testified in opposition, mostly with confusion regarding the actual content -- although the NH Chiefs of Police Association did bother to send a lobbyist to sign in for them in opposition (your employees lobbying your representatives in contravention of your expressed interests: think about that), and we can rest assured that forever-presuming-above-its-station law enforcement will inevitably put the screws to the more easily statist-manipulated oligarchs in the Senate, if and when we get that far.

We've been here before, of course, far too many times, but servant government's recalcitrance toward the people's will, in an ostensibly free society, is increasingly untenable. Perhaps we must accept that it's simply time for more accountable representation...

Press

• New Hampshire: Inside the Plan to Legalize Pot in 2020 | Cannabis Now
• New Hampshire Lawmakers Take New Approach To Marijuana Legalization For 2020 | Marijuana Moment
• Marijuana legalization may hit 40 states. Now what? - POLITICO
• Legalizing pot campaign shifts gears for 2020 | State | unionleader.com
• The Case for NH HB 1648 (the packet to which Matt Simon refers in testimony)
• N.H. Lawmakers Revisit Marijuana Legalization, 'Home Grow' for Medical Cannabis | New Hampshire Public Radio
• Cannabis Decrim Hearing Includes “Nobody”, NH Candidate for Governor | Free Keene
• New Hampshire Lawmakers Approve Marijuana Legalization Bill | Marijuana Moment
• Home grow marijuana bill picks up more support in House
• AFP-NH Commends House Criminal Justice Committee for Removing Barriers, Passing HB 1648 - Americans for Prosperity
• New Hampshire Committee Passes Bill to Legalize Possession and Home Cultivation of Marijuana Despite Federal Prohibition | | Tenth Amendment Center Blog
• New Hampshire State Representative Talks Path To Cannabis Legalization in State on Cheddar
• New Hampshire House Passes Bill to Legalize Possession and Home Cultivation of Marijuana Despite Federal Prohibition | | Tenth Amendment Center Blog
• Two-thirds of Americans support marijuana legalization | Pew Research Center
• Matt Simon: Coronavirus threatens medical cannabis program, endangers patients | Op-eds | unionleader.com