Three Democrats in the race for Governor faced off in the Putnam Center on Friday as part of the Live Free or Die primary debates. Joyce Craig, Cinde Warmington, and John Kiper discussed their views on a variety of topics including marijuana legalization and protests on college campus.
Kiper said he wants marijuana to be legalized, specifically for home grown plants.
“The only thing that I really think we need to have in there is homegrown,” Kiper said. “I feel that it’s a natural occurring plant.”
Warmington agreed that marijuana should be legal. She argues that people travel to bordering states to get marijuana, and according to Warmington, it is a tax revenue loss for New Hampshire.
“They are currently being forced to travel over the borders,” Warmington said. “We are losing tax revenue and the economic opportunity for jobs from our state to our neighboring states.”
Craig also wants marijuana to be legalized, and she wants the tax revenue to go towards education and housing.
“It is far past time to legalize cannabis in our state, as all of the neighboring states have legalized cannabis,” Craig said. “I will look to have those taxes, that revenue go toward our public schools and toward affordable housing.”
Another question asked by Lauren Hall, a reporter for The NewEnglander, focused on protests on college campuses.
Craig said First Amendment rights must be protected, and the student protestors should be safe while voicing their opinions.
“We understand where everyone stands and we’re doing everything we can to provide protection and safety that we need to while allowing our students to have their right to voice their opinions,” Craig said.
Kiper said he went to the University of New Hampshire protests held in response to the Israel-Hamas conflict and said he observed students simply standing on a field. Kiper said there is no reason for state police to get involved with protests on college campuses.
“I think that the UNH police and most college campus police are very good,” said Kiper. “I think colleges can deal with protests.”
Warmington said student safety must be ensured, and free speech must be protected.
“We need to make sure that we are always protecting the right for people to express themselves, and that includes public protests,” Warmington said. “We need to work with out students and our colleges and universities with open lines of communication to make sure we don’t end up in the same kind of situations that we saw earlier this year on college campuses.”
The event was the last of five ‘Live Free or Die’ debates at New England College between Sept. 7-9.
