Former Mayor Is Attempting to Legalize Marijuana in New Hampshire

Former Portsmouth Mayor Steve Marchand says that he has a plan to legalize and tax marijuana in a way that raises, at the minimum, $30 million in tax revenue. He has researched other states’ statistics regarding underage marijuana use after legalization, and seeing that underage use has declined, he supports marijuana legalization.

Marchand said, “We have states that have had it legalized for a long enough period of time where we can begin to make statements about the pros and cons, and the pros in my opinion far outweigh the cons.”

Marchand admits that he has never tried marijuana. He also admits that his estimates of the tax revenues to be raised is likely underestimated, according to SeacoastOnline.com. He hopes that his plans of legalizing marijuana along with increasing gas taxes and increasing business profit taxes will repair relationships between local and state governments.

Further researching marijuana use in comparison to other drugs in states where marijuana is legal, Marchand found that there is an increased use of heroin in states where there is marijuana prohibition.

In response to increased heroin use, Marchand said, “I believe strongly that this is in part because so many people get into heroin through prescription opioids. When you can pull people off of that train that leads them to heroin, that ends up being a net plus certainly health wise.”

Marchand concluded his remarks about marijuana legalization in New Hampshire with, “This economy is occurring right now, it’s just occurring as a black market.”

Photo: concordnewsradio.com