After a whirlwind legislative session in New Hampshire this past year that nearly saw the state legalize recreational marijuana before the effort fizzled out, lawmakers are already looking ahead to cannabis-related bills for the coming session.
Members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives have so far asked for six separate pieces of marijuana legislation be drafted by staffers in advance of next year’s session, according to state-posted legislative service requests, with an additional requested measure focused on psilocybin.
Three of the would-be bills propose legalizing marijuana. Reps. Jared Sullivan (D) and Kevin Verville (R) have each asked for a bill to be drafted that would usher in the reform. Verville has requested legislation “legalizing cannabis for persons 21 years of age or older,” while Sullivan has asked for two other legalization-related bills.
While the descriptions of the requested measures are brief, it appears that one of Sullivan’s asks is focused on personal use and wouldn’t immediately legalize sales. It’s described as “relative to legalizing certain quantities of cannabis, establishing penalties for the smoking or vaping of cannabis in public, and establishing a commission to study cannabis regulation and sales.”
The other request from Sullivan is for a bill “relative to the legalization and regulation of cannabis and making appropriations therefor”—a measure that may encompass legal sales provisions.
Republican Verville is also behind the psilocybin request, having put in an order for legislation “legalizing the possession and use of psilocybin for persons 21 years of age or older.”
A third lawmaker, Rep. Jonah Wheeler (D), has asked that a measure be drafted “relative to annulling, resentencing, or discontinuing prosecution of certain cannabis offenses.” It’s unclear whether that bill would also include legalization or broader decriminalization provisions.
As for medical marijuana, Rep. Wendy Thomas (D), who was behind a successful push this past year to expand the state’s medical program to allow doctors to recommend cannabis for any debilitating condition that the drug might help, has filed requests for a pair of bills related to therapeutic use.
One would permit “qualifying patients and designated caregivers to cultivate cannabis,” establishing homegrow allowances that don’t currently exist in New Hampshire, while another is described as “relative to hemp-derived cannabinoids and the definition of cannabis in therapeutic cannabis.”
While nearly two thirds of New Hampshire residents support legalizing marijuana, according to a poll from earlier this year, lawmakers have yet reach agreement on how to do it.
This past year, they spent months working to build consensus around a Republican-led legalization bill that would have legalized through a system of government-overseen franchise stores. But at the last minute, lawmakers in the House, led by a handful of vocal Democrats, voted to table what they described as a fundamentally flawed proposal that was tailored to meet the governor’s approval.
The polling earlier this year showed that most residents supported the failed bill, with more than 6 in 10 (61 percent) in favor.
In November, voters will choose a replacement for Gov. Chris Sununu (R)—who isn’t seeking reelection—and will also have the chance to elect an entirely new slate of lawmakers. That could change the calculus around legalization in coming years, especially given that gubernatorial candidates differ drastically on marijuana policy.
Thomas, a Democrat who’s introduced medical marijuana bills in past sessions and is planning to steward more reforms next year, said in an email to Marijuana Moment that the legislative requests give “an indication of what our priorities will be *if* we win” the election.
“After the election, there is another filing period” for lawmakers to request bills be drafted by legislative staffers, Thomas said. “That’s when the extensive bills will be filed. At that point we know who has the majority and bills that we think can get passed get filed.”
She said she requested medical marijuana reforms before the election “because they SHOULD be independent of party majority. We’ll see.”
While Sununu was a hesitant supporter of legalization, the candidates in the current race have made marijuana legalization a strictly partisan issue.
On the Democratic side, former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig has said she’d support a legalization bill that supports small, private businesses rather than a government-run franchise system, as last year’s bill would have created.
Craig has also said she believes New Hampshire should move quickly to establish its own marijuana industry before the federal government opens state borders to cannabis commerce, and she favors a legalization structure that disincentivizes large or multi-state operators dominating New Hampshire’s market.
On the Republican side, Kelly Ayotte, a former U.S. senator and state attorney general, has said she’d flatly oppose the change.
“I don’t think it’s the right direction,” she said ahead of the primary election earlier this month.
Since the end of this year’s legislative session, Sununu has approved some more minor marijuana reforms—perhaps most notably, Thomas’s medical marijuana expansion bill. Previously, patients needed to be diagnosed with certain specific conditions to qualify for legal marijuana access.
Enactment of that measure came after the governor signed two other medical marijuana expansion bills: one that added generalized anxiety disorder as a qualifying condition and another that allowed more healthcare providers to certify patients for the state’s medical marijuana program.
Sununu separately vetoed a bill passed by lawmakers that would have allowed medical marijuana businesses to open second cultivation locations, including in greenhouses. Under current law, ATCs in New Hampshire are required to grow marijuana in secure, indoor locations. The use of semi-outdoor structures, including greenhouses, is prohibited.
In his veto statement, Sununu said the bill “provides scant detail regarding safety, security and location requirements.”
Democrats’ move to table the broader legalization bill near the tail end of the legislative session sparked accusations by some that the politicians were using the issue to earn the party votes at the ballot box in November. But most who voted against the bill said they were opposed to the plan on its merits, with many pointing to the state-run system, limit on the number of retailers and other restrictions they said were unacceptable.
New Hampshire lawmakers worked extensively on marijuana reform issues a year earlier and attempted to reach a compromise to enact legalization through a multi-tiered system that would include state-controlled shops, dual licensing for existing medical cannabis dispensaries and businesses privately licensed to individuals by state agencies. The legislature ultimately hit an impasse on the complex legislation.
Bicameral lawmakers also convened a state commission tasked with studying legalization and proposing a path forward last year, though the group ultimately failed to arrive at a consensus or propose final legislation.
The Senate also defeated a more conventional House-passed legalization bill last year, HB 639, despite its bipartisan support.
Last May, the House also defeated marijuana legalization language that was included in a Medicaid expansion bill. And the Senate moved to table another piece of legislation that month that would have allowed patients and designated caregivers to cultivate up to three mature plants, three immature plants and 12 seedlings for personal therapeutic use.
After the Senate rejected the reform bills in 2022, the House included legalization language as an amendment to separate criminal justice-related legislation—but that was also struck down in the opposite chamber.
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Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.
After a whirlwind legislative session in New Hampshire this past year that nearly saw the state legalize recreational marijuana before the effort fizzled out, lawmakers are already looking ahead to cannabis-related bills for the coming session. Members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives have so far asked for six separate pieces of marijuana legislation Read More