Tougher prison sentences for drug dealers who traffic fentanyl in New Hampshire were shot down Thursday by state lawmakers.Democrats and Liberty Republicans teamed up to defeat the legislation that was a top priority for Senate Republicans.The legislation would have created a new, mandatory minimum five-year prison sentence for drug traffickers caught bringing fentanyl into New Hampshire."For decades through the war on drugs, mandatory minimums were used by the federal government and states to try to incarcerate our way out of the drug problem plaguing our communities, and that approach failed our country," said state rep. Linda Harriott-Gathright, D-Nashua.>> Download the free WMUR app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google Play <<Some Republican lawmakers made the case that a narrowly tailored mandatory minimum sentence specifically targeting traffickers of the drug that is killing so many Granite Staters would send an important message."We should continue helping people who are addicted to drugs, but at some point, we should take steps to stop the poison from coming in in the first place," said state Rep. Terry Roy, R-Deerfield. "Otherwise, we'll just keep pouring more money and more money in and digging more graves and more graves."But Democrats, backed by a sizeable contingent of Liberty Republicans, argued that mandatory minimums are not only ineffective but too harsh on offenders."Long mandatory prison sentences increase both the cost of incarceration and the chances of recidivism once the offender has been released," said state Rep. David Meuse, D-Portsmouth.The Senate might try to revive the issue before the end of the session, but the margin of Thursday's vote wasn't close, a fact Senate President Jeb Bradley said he believes most voters would find shocking."I think when people are bringing deadly drugs into New Hampshire, there need to be significant penalties," Bradley said. "I think the vast majority of people in New Hampshire recognize that."