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Looking back at the week in news

By Staff | Jan 18, 2014

NH is right to go slow on legalization of marijuana

After the legalization of same-sex marriage, no other social issue has seen such a dramatic change in public attitude recently than the personal use of marijuana.

This month, Colorado became the first state in the nation to allow legal sales of the drug for recreational use. The state of Washington is preparing to do the same. Fourteen other states have decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana. In a recent Washington Post poll, residents of the nation’s capital supported the legalization of marijuana for personal use by a margin of 2-to-1, compared to an even split four years ago.

The New Hampshire House of Representatives joined the decriminalization chorus this week, narrowly approving a bill allowing personal possession of up to one ounce of marijuana.

Fortunately, the legislation is unlikely to pass the more conservative Senate, and even if it does, Gov. Maggie Hassan has pledged to veto it. It is too soon for New Hampshire to take such a step, especially when it’s still finding its way to implement the new law allowing the use of marijuana for medical reasons.

There is no pressing need for New Hampshire to be a beta tester for legalizing marijuana. It will make for better public policy in the the long run to be patient and take note of the consequences for other states before moving forward.

We sure could use the money, though, and it would dovetail nicely with our liquor business, but it’s too soon.

Rejection of plate scanners a victory for privacy advocates

If the New Hampshire House had followed a committee recommendation and approved legislation authorizing the indiscriminate scanning of automobile license plates by law enforcement agencies, it might well have tacked on an amendment repealing the state’s motto, “Live Free or Die.”

In this digital age, the notion of personal privacy is all but gone. If you activate the GPS on your smartphone and use Google maps, your every move is tracked and recorded. Search for any product on Amazon and banner ads will follow you everywhere you surf. Emails pitching similar products will flood your inbox. Walk through virtually any parking lot, public or private, and there is a camera watching you.

Supporters of the bill argued it would be a useful tool to track down criminals and that the records of innocent plates would be destroyed within minutes.

But most of the House remained doubtful, and rightly so, considering the abuses of power we have witnessed.

As state Rep. Neal Kurk, R-Weare, correctly concluded, the invasion of privacy for innocent motorists outweighed the benefits of the scanners as crime-fighting tools.

“There are tremendous opportunities for misuse here,” he said.

Is anyone more miserable than poor Alex Rodriguez?

No man is an island, unless that man is disgraced New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez.

Livid that a federal arbitrator suspended him for the 2014 Major League Baseball regular season and playoffs for his use of performance enhancing drugs, Rodriquez filed suit against MLB and the Players Association last week. He’s already suing the Yankees.

Rodriguez says MLB was out to get him and therefore purposely denied him rights that should be afforded any accused person. He also claims the Players Association didn’t do a good enough job standing up for his interests.

Both points ring hollow for one reason: Afforded the opportunity to defended himself to an arbitrator, Rodriquez refused. Using the excuse that Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig was not ordered to appear, Rodriquez left the hearing and headed straight to the radio talk show circuit to cry foul.

Rodriquez has a better chance of being hit by lightning and winning Powerball at the same time than he does winning his case against MLB.

All Rodriquez has succeeded in the doing the past several months is alienating just about everybody in baseball and cementing the public perception that’s he’s guilty.

And to think, he almost ended up in a Red Sox uniform.

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