Legalize pot? Amid opioid crisis, some New Hampshire leaders say no way

Opioid addiction has ravaged communities in New Hampshire
The New York Times (US)
Wednesday, February 20, 2019

The push to legalize recreational marijuana is sweeping the Northeast: Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine have done it, and the governors of Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey say they want their states to do it, too.But in New Hampshire, Gov. Chris Sununu and some other state leaders are opposed. The problem, they say, is not just about pot. It’s about opioids — drugs that have ripped across this state, devastating thousands of residents and leaving New Hampshire in recent years with one of the highest per capita death rates from opioid-related overdoses. But supporters of legalizing recreational marijuana are trying to flip the argument on its head. They say legal marijuana could actually help solve the crisis, by helping people get off opioids.