When Republican Sen. Bob Giuda, a firm opponent of marijuana legalization, faced down New Hampshire’s first significant political fight to legalize last year, he knew the conditions would be difficult.

Cannabis advocates had public opinion on their side – 68% of Granite Staters support legalization – a large majority in the state House felt the same, and New Hampshire was surrounded on four sides by governments that had legalized the drug themselves.

But Giuda and his fellow opponents had their own arsenal to put in play. They brought to New Hampshire the former U.S. District Attorney for Colorado, the U.S. Drug Czar under President George W. Bush, doctors from MIT and Harvard, and a Newark bishop who led the fight against legalization in New Jersey, all of whom lamented the effects of legalization efforts in other states and warned New Hampshire not to move ahead.

After weeks of hearings, the pressure delivered results. Bogged down by disagreement, the House’s legalization bill – New Hampshire’s first since Democrats took over the House and Senate under Republican Gov. Chris Sununu – was pushed into a study committee.

“We worked very hard – I worked very hard – to kill that bill,” Giuda said. [Read more at Concord Monitor]