Following Tuesday’s surprise House vote in New Hampshire in favor of legislation decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of pot, many of the Granite State’s political leaders and pundits have come down with severe cases of ‘Reefer Madness.’  

Among the afflicted: Democrat Governor John Lynch who, immediately following Tuesday’s vote, threatened to veto any plan that would reduce criminal penalties for small-time pot offenders. “[This bill] sends absolutely the wrong message to New Hampshire’s young people,” the governor stated through his spokesperson. “If the bill were to reach the governor’s desk, … he would veto it.”

Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta also appears to have contracted the disease. Yesterday, the mayor demanded state Rep. David Scannell, one of the 193 elected officials who voted in favor of HB 1623, to resign from his full-time job as spokesman for the Manchester school district. In a letter from the mayor to the first-term representative, Guinta charged that Scannell’s House vote “permanently and irrevocably harms” Scannell’s ability to serve Manchester’s schools. The mayor further argued Scannell’s resignation is necessary to “help restore the integrity” of district anti-drug policies.

Wow! Somebody please notify the mayor that marijuana possession — even minor offenses — would still be illegal under HB 1623, and that in a democracy we don’t threaten legislators’ ability to earn a living when we disagree with their political viewpoints.

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