[420 Girl]

State senators from both parties parried with advocates of marijuana decriminalization yesterday, asking a number of skeptical questions about a bill that cleared the House but appears doomed in the Senate. The Senate Judiciary Committee did not take a vote on the bill, although its chairman, Sen. Joe Foster, has previously said he knows of no senator who supports it. Minutes after the House passed the bill, Gov. John Lynch announced that he would veto the measure, which would decriminalize possession of a quarter of an ounce of marijuana and cut penalties to a fine.

Also yesterday, death penalty advocates and opponents turned out to debate if and when a commission should be formed to look into capital punishment. The commission is part of a broader effort spurred by a bill that would expand the definitions of capital crimes to include the murder of bailiffs, criminal and consumer protection investigators, and family division judges.

At the marijuana hearing, Sens. Bob Clegg and David Gottesman zeroed in on how the bill would compare with underage drinking laws, which in some cases result in stricter penalties. Clegg, a Hudson Republican, also said other laws make transporting marijuana or possessing paraphernalia illegal. "If they have a quarter ounce, how would they get to use it?" Clegg said. "They can't smoke it in a pipe, and they can't roll it?"

Noting that the quarter ounce of marijuana that would be decriminalized under House Bill 1623 equates to about eight joints, Clegg said that someone could be charged with a violation for possession of the drug but eight misdemeanors for each rolling paper. Afterward, Clegg said: "This bill gives a false sense of security."

But a variety of proponents of decriminalization - including a medical student and a corrections officer - argued that the bill would be a first step in correcting a drug policy that they argued was excessive and ineffectual. Matt Simon, of the advocacy group New Hampshire Common Sense, said that 11 other states have passed decriminalization laws. "None of the gloom-and-doom scenarios have happened," Simon said.

Those testifying against the bill included representatives from the state attorney general's office and the state Department of Safety. Current laws on marijuana, which deem personal possession a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail, are not the problem, said Karin Eckel of the attorney general's office. "The problem is drug abuse and drug use," Eckel said.

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