State of New Hampshire secondary Archives: on Drugs

Andy Martin: We need more Safe Stations, for opioid users

Bill Weld: Accept benefits of cannabis; allow vets and seniors to use

Chris Sununu: Given NH's opioid epidemic, a drug czar is a necessity

Chris Sununu: Recovery Friendly Workplaces: help in fighting drugs

Colin Van Ostern: Health Protection Plan for addiction treatment services

Colin Van Ostern: Legalize medical marijuana for chronic pain

Dan Feltes: Regulate kratom and synthetic alkaloids

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
• This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Kratom Consumer Protection Act."
• "Kratom product" means a food product or dietary ingredient containing any part of the leaf of the plant Mitragyna speciosa.
• No dealer shall prepare, distribute, or sell a kratom product containing any synthetic alkaloids

Dan Feltes: Voted for legalized marijuana

Dan Feltes: Yes. Voted for legalization: "both an economic and racial justice issue."

Chris Sununu: No. Opposes efforts to legalize.

Jeanne Shaheen: Allow medical marijuana; but no recreational marijuana

"The difference we have on medicinal marijuana is I want to make sure it's an FDA-approved medicinal marijuana," Brown said. Both said they do not support changing the law on recreational use of marijuana.

Jim Rubens: War on drugs is a flagrant $1 trillion policy failure

• Supply interdiction drives up violence and drug supplier profits.
• Global illegal drug demand is now $320 billion annually.
• Since 2006, drug trade violence stemming largely from U.S. demand has killed over 100,000 people in Mexico alone.
• Most drug overdose deaths in New Hampshire now involve fentanyl illegally manufactured in Mexico.
• U.S. taxpayers spent $7.5 billion in 2014 attempting to eradicate production of opium (the raw material for heroin) in Afghanistan, yet cultivation there has reached record levels, supplying 3/4 of global demand and occupying a cultivated land area the size of Rhode Island, and providing a major source of funding for the Taliban.

Jim Rubens: Legalize marijuana; drug-assisted treatment for opioids

For marijuana, Congress should grant states the power to legalize and regulate as they see fit like alcohol. I would then suggest (not mandate) that states require child-proof packaging and labels disclosing potency and health effects, including the fact that MJ use involves performance and brain developmental effects (though far less in the aggregate than tobacco or alcohol). I would also suggest banning advertising & public use, licensing in-state wholesale producers, allowing personal production in limited quantities, and extending DUI laws to cover marijuana metabolite blood levels.

Jon Lavoie: Fund heroin interdiction, but fund treatment too

I believe that those who need help and want help, should have the opportunity to receive treatment. Proper pharmaceutical and behavioral treatment are typically required. As Governor, I would push to have medical insurance companies include this treatment in their plans, some already do. For those without medical insurance, I am in favor of having the state provide funding for treatment.

Jon Lavoie: Learn from Colorado and collect marijuana tax dollars

All I ask is that you don't label me as the guy who wants to legalize pot. These are just ideas that I believe this state should take a serious look at.

Molly Kelly: Help opioid users recover & rebuild

Ray Metcalfe: End the war on drugs

Q: Name some contentious issues which voters can depend on you to vote for?
A:
• Ending the war on drugs
• Universal health care
• Ending corporate welfare
• Repealing the Patriot Act
• Power cost equalization
• A judicial system that places a higher value on dispensing justice and getting it right than it places on winning for the sake of winning

Scott Brown: Restrict medical marijuana; and no recreational marijuana

"The difference we have on medicinal marijuana is I want to make sure it's an FDA-approved medicinal marijuana," Brown said. Both said they do not support changing the law on recreational use of marijuana.

Steve Marchand: Suite of services to those in midst of opioid recovery

Marchand: We need to continue to provide the resources that continue to give a suite of services to those in the midst of recovery, beyond simply detoxification of the addictive substance. Until recently, I think a lot of people in the world of politics saw recovery as largely detoxification. The reality is that if we simply just detoxify people and then we put folks back in a situation where addiction became the norm, the likelihood of relapsing is really high. I priced it out last year in that it would be an additional $8 to 10 million a year of resources that would provide a level of stability for local and regional recovery centers. I think it's a relatively low amount of money, that would improve lives, reduce costs, and directly address what New Hampshirites say is the most important issue facing us.

Steve Marchand: Legalize marijuana; tax it and regulate it

Marchand: I do favor the legalization, regulation, and taxation of marijuana. I do feel it would have a net positive impact in terms of lowering costs for law enforcement and judicial entities. I also think that it will improve health outcomes and reduce addiction rates, and it will generate revenue.

Steve Marchand: Fully fund drug courts & rehab instead of incarceration

A: The good news is that the solution is not a ton of money, necessarily. It is some legislative changes, it is more effective use of the state's database. Some of it, frankly, is cultural. It requires that we have to be more aggressive in fully funding drug courts, to really get us in a position where we're not trying to punish and incarcerate, we're trying to rehabilitate and get towards recovery. And the wait list is where the real problem is--we have 13 health zones in the state--in most of those we have a waiting list. We have people on a weekly basis dying, waiting on the waiting list. So I sat down with a bunch of people trying to start recovery centers around the state, and did budgets with them. I asked them to price it out. The price tag? Smaller than you'd think--typically about $300,000-$500,000 a year on average, per recovery center. This is an $8-10 million initiative that I've been looking at.

Steve Marchand: Marijuana is not a gateway drug to other drugs

A: I favor the legalization of marijuana. First of all, I do not think it's a gateway drug to other drugs. Second, we have seen lots of studies that we actually reduce use in certain groups. You legalize it, you regulate it, you tax it. We can actually help public health by reducing its use under 21 and doing it responsibly for those that, frankly, already doing it over the age of 21.

Tom Sherman: Ensure full range of services for substance use disorder

Cinde Warmington: Was lobbyist for Purdue in 2002; defended Oxycontin

Joyce Craig: Supports legalization of recreational use of marijuana

Cinde Warmington: Fund treatment programs, support law enforcement

Cinde Warmington: Cannabis should be legalized, regulated, and taxed

A: "Cannabis should be legalized, regulated, and taxed to ensure - particularly in response to the current safety concerns about contaminated cannabis products throughout the state."

Chuck Morse: Eliminate the source, at the border, with more police

That means ensuring that the 70 open State Police positions are filled. Addressing the actual opioid crisis, he said, should be done through economics. "I think that comes with creating opportunities in this state. So people all have a chance to make a living and have a good life."

Cinde Warmington: Worked as lobbyist and advocate for OxyContin

[One voter] explained why he voted for Craig over Warmington because of her past relationship with Purdue Pharma and her advocacy for the drug, OxyContin."Cindy Warmington seemed like a pretty decent person, but taking on all that fentanyl money, or Oxy(Contin) money, okay, that's what really killed it for me," he said. [Warmington worked as a lobbyist, including advocating for OxyContin].

[A supporter] said she admires how Warmington has been able to forge relationships across ideological lines during her time on the Executive Council. "That work will serve her well as governor. With these good relationships, she will be able to get going right out of the gate."

Jon Kiper: Establish state-run dispensaries under strict regulation

Adopt a state-run model. Establish state-operated dispensaries under strict regulation to ensure safety and oversight. This model has been extremely successful for NH Liquor Stores.

Keep dollars in-state. Residents are already buying cannabis, so New Hampshire should keep that money here.