Marijuana legalization advances in New Hampshire — toward a brick wall

One of the leading GOP voices who pushed for legalization last year has said he won’t support a renewed effort this year, so the resistance such proposals have historically faced in the New Hampshire Senate currently appears to be insurmountable.

In urging his colleagues to vote against House Bill 75 on Thursday, Republican Representative Terry Roy of Deerfield said the pending proposal’s fate is already certain. He took issue with what he characterized as its overly permissive approach, noting that it lacks comprehensive regulatory structures akin to those that other states have enacted.

“If we decide to legalize marijuana, then we should do it correctly, in an orderly way,” Roy said.

“I know we’ve tried in 50 different bills over the last few years. Nothing seems to go through. And let me tell you, this one ain’t going to go through either,” he said. “We know it’s not going to get all the way through. So let’s do it smart and do something that takes care of children, has guardrails and protections, not just throw it out there.”

Democratic Representative Jodi K. Newell of Keene, who spoke in favor of HB 75 on Thursday, said she lost an older brother to alcoholism and a fiancé to a heroin overdose. Marijuana is safer than those drugs, and the state should trust adults 21 and older to use it responsibly, she said.

“Who knows,” she added. “We may just save some lives while we’re at it.”

Democratic Representative Alissandra Murray of Manchester wrote in a committee’s minority report that HB 75 would put an end to New Hampshire’s practice of continuing to “criminalize and incarcerate individuals who are partaking in an activity the surrounding states have legalized and are profiting off of.”

Separately on Thursday, the House also approved House Bill 196, which would provide a way for those who have completed a sentence for cannabis possession to petition for an annulment of their conviction.

Both HB 75 and HB 196 passed the chamber on voice votes. They head next to the Senate.

Polling conducted last year by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center found that legalizing cannabis for recreational use is an idea that two-thirds of Granite Staters support. The state already allows medicinal marijuana.

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Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.