By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – Law enforcement bills related to drugs and drinking and driving were heard before the Senate Judiciary Committee with the governor weighing in.
Gov. Chris Sununu is in support of two of the bills heard Thursday which would crack down hard on dealers whose products kill people.
Another bill looks to first-time drug offenders, reducing their criminal liability which was opposed by police and the chairwoman of the committee.
Senate Bill 570-FN is sponsored by state Sen. Becky Whitley, D-Hopkinton.
Whitley said it is an effort to take away criminalization and focus more on treatment. It would reduce the penalty.
A total of 10 bills were heard throughout the day with a link to their titles here https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/senate/schedule/eventDetails.aspx?event=2272&et=1
Two bills related to levels of THC – the active ingredient in marijuana – in the blood were pulled by the sponsor, Sen. William Gannon, R-Sandown, with amendments unrelated to the original title in the case of Senate Bill 418.
That measure will now propose laws that might help police see a reduction in the number of individuals who refuse to take a breathalyzer test when suspected of driving while impaired.
In New Hampshire, about 70 percent of citizens refuse the test.
The other bill, almost entirely eliminated and amended, was SB 419 which initially sought to limit the “cannabis concentrate” levels. The part of the bill now left allows the department of Health and Human Services to study and report on the therapeutic cannabis program.
Gov. Sununu said he supports SB 414 and SB 415, which are related to mandatory minimum sentences for trafficking and the distribution of large quantities of a controlled drug with death resulting and relative to the penalty for certain fentanyl related offences.
In a letter to the Senate Judiciary, Sununu wrote “these Senate Bills are about holding drug dealers accountable for the death and suffering they are causing the citizens of New Hampshire. Drug dealers are aware that the drug trafficking they partake in, and the fentanyl laced products they are selling, are deadly but sell them anyway because they value profit over human life.
“Please advance these bills so that these penalties are reflective of the real harms that affect so many citizens in New Hampshire,” Sununu wrote.
In the afternoon, the committee first heard the new Senate Bill 418 which is a totally different bill than one about THC driving limits.
The prime sponsor, Sen. Gannon, said the amendment does four things; first, it increases the administrative license suspension time for refusal of a breathalyzer, which is currently 180 days. It would go to one year for the first offense. And a second offense would go from two currently to three years loss of license.
It also allows out-of-state DUI convictions and refusals to be considered as prior offenses.
Also, Gannon said, another important piece in the bill is incentives for people to plead guilty in court. The final aspect is related to aggravated DUI and a chance for there not to be jail time.
Len Harden, a North County attorney spoke about how unscientific THC levels are in blood and how it varies. But when he found that aspect of the bill was deleted he said the state should notify people they will lose their license for 180 days if they don’t take the test on the front page rather than the back page of the citation.
“There might be more people willing to take the test,” he said.
Senate Bill 426, also sponsored by Gannon, relates to possession of cannabis products in motor vehicles.
It would treat cannabis gummy bears as the law already considers open containers of alcohol and would be punishable as a misdemeanor with the license revoked for 60 days to up to two years.
For those who can legally possess it, the driver would need to put them in a container from a dispensary and out of arms’ reach of the driver in the least accessible spot.
“Police are having problems on the road,” Gannon said.
This has come up in past years, he said. It passed the Senate but was killed in the House.
Pat Sullivan, representing the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police, said it was in full support as did State Police Lt. Chris Storm from the Department of Safety.
Dr. Jerry Knirk said he was opposed to its adverse impact on patients.
This bill treats cannabis differently from other medications, he said.
Senate Bill 570 sponsored by Sen. Whitley, a member of the committee, seeks to amend the penalty for drug possession.
Whitley said it would focus more on treatment and reduce the penalty.
She believes there should be more resources in the community rather than increasing criminal penalties.
Gannon asked about quantities. Whitley said it would depend on the prosecutor’s discretion.
Rep. Terry Roy, R-Deerfield, chair of the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, said he thought it was a good bill which would save millions of dollars, arguing we cannot litigate our way out of the problem.
Manchester Police Detective Matthew McDonald spoke against the bill.
He said in 2022 more than 400 overdose deaths occurred and he is finding drug quantities are increasing as well as potency.
“Now is not the time,” to reduce the penalty from a Class B offense to misdemeanor for first time offenders, McDonald said. Class B felonies carry up to a year in jail.
Devon Chaffee, executive director of the American Civil Liberties of New Hampshire, said this is about giving people a second chance to succeed without the heavy burden of a criminal record.
She said it would make communities safer by allowing law enforcement to focus on other things. Chaffee said people of color are disproportionately harmed by the law and it would stop wasting taxpayers’ money on solutions that do not work.
“Now is not the time,” she said, “for long sentences,” for drug use.
Sen. Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, chair of the committee, disagreed saying she was hearing what McDonald was saying and that for society, it is better to have a serious reaction to such an offense.