New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) reaffirmed her opposition to marijuana legalization at a debate on Thursday, one month before the election. “I oppose the legalization of cannabis in this state,” Ayotte said.
She argued that legalizing cannabis would worsen the state’s mental health crisis.
Ayotte said children are “the top of my mind” and cited research on the impact of cannabis on young brains. “When you legalize something, you send a very different message to young people about the use of it,” the governor said.
She also claimed that states that have legalized marijuana see “more traffic deaths.” She argued that “other states who have done this are starting to rethink their decision on it because you’ve seen the situation with traffic deaths.”
The governor further contended that the illegal market persists under legalization. “The illegal market does not go away because the state taxes it,” Ayotte argued. “The illegal market continues to thrive.”
When a debate moderator pressed her about missing out on revenue while neighboring states have all legalized cannabis, Ayotte replied that “this revenue comes at a huge cost.” She added, “I don’t think following because our neighbors do something, we should do it.”
Democratic challenger Cinde Warmington, who previously served on the New Hampshire Executive Council, took the opposite position at the debate. “I support the the sale and legalization of cannabis as an additional revenue source in our state,” she said.
Warmington criticized the flow of tax dollars to neighboring states. “I think it is really odd that we are sending our citizenry over state lines and paying millions and millions tens of millions of dollars to our neighboring state in taxes when that revenue should be here in our state,” she said.
She noted street products “can be laced with all sorts of toxins” and that synthetic marijuana is being sold on the street.
“It is a safety issue to make sure that we are legalizing cannabis,” Warmington said.
Warmington has voiced the same position before, telling a town hall event last month that “there is no reason why the citizens of New Hampshire should be driving across state borders to pay taxes to Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine.”
The debate is the latest flashpoint in a broader conflict over cannabis policy between the two candidates. Ayotte recently vetoed legislation to allow businesses in the state’s medical cannabis program to cultivate in greenhouses.
Lawmakers overrode her veto, and the medical marijuana cultivation measure became law despite her objections. In her veto statement, the governor said, “I do not support expanding the cultivation of marijuana in our state.”
Warmington criticized the veto in June in a video posted to social media. “This bill would have made medical cannabis more affordable and accessible to Granite Staters who really need it, and she vetoed it,” Warmington said.
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