Costs of inaction
As an organization focused on all aspects of justice, Greater Nashua Rights and Democracy strenuously objects to NH Rep. Chris Pappas’s decision to vote against the MORE Act, which proposes decriminalizing marijuana by removing it from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act. It also eliminates penalties for those who manufacture, possess, or distribute marijuana; establishes a procedure to expunge some criminal records through sentence reviews; and provides sorely needed funds for substance use disorder programs through a 5% federal sales tax.
Rep. Pappas’s explanation that the issue should be studied further is inadequate. We already know quite enough about the devastating effects of the criminalization of cannabis in America. According to the US Department of Justice Bureau of Statistics, cannabis laws drain as much as 20 billion dollars a year from public funding for law enforcement and a billion dollars a year to incarcerate those convicted. One of every 8 inmates in our jails and prisons is there because of the criminalization of cannabis.
The financial costs to taxpayers are onerous, but the cost in lost years of personal productivity, as well as disruption of families and neighborhoods, is extreme. This tragedy is compounded by the fact that, in spite of decades of enforcement, there is not a shred of evidence that criminalization of marijuana has resulted in any social benefit. No one is safer, healthier, or more financially secure. The only benefit has been to the private prison industry that profits from mass incarceration.
Greater Nashua RAD appreciates that Rep. Pappas has been an ally for those of us who advocate for social justice, including signing onto the Justice in Policing Act, and so we have supported him as a candidate and a representative. We therefore call on him to do his homework about the costs of inaction on this issue, talk further with those who are most affected, and join with us in this important reform. We will be closely watching his response.