New Hampshire Senate Kills Bills That Would Have Legalized Marijuana And Allowed Home Cultivation Of Medical Cannabis

Senators in New Hampshire rejected a number of House-passed marijuana bills on Thursday, voting to table proposals that would legalize marijuana, allow medical cannabis patients to grow plants at home and permit dispensaries to buy hemp-derived cannabinoids on the commercial market.

The full Senate tabled all three pieces of legislation, meaning they’re unlikely to see further action by the end of the session.

The measures were previously marked inexpedient to legislate by the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has broadly opposed drug reform bills this session.

The most contentious floor vote on Thursday was on the medical marijuana homegrow bill, HB 53, from Rep. Wendy Thomas (D). Under that proposal, state-registered medical marijuana patients and caregivers could grow up to three mature cannabis plants and three immature plants, as well as 12 seedlings. They could also possess up to eight ounces of usable cannabis from those plants.

Growers would have to keep the plants in secure locations, away from public view or unauthorized access, and cultivation would need to be reported to the state. Landlords could also prohibit the activity.

Sen. Daryl Abbas (R), who moved to table the bill, argued that the change would “open the floodgates” by effectively raising the state’s medical marijuana possession limit.

“The eight-ounce possession limit would apply even if you’re not actually growing,” he pointed out. “All you have to do is actually just get the card saying you’re allowed to grow.”

Sen. Debra Altschiller (D) stood to defend the bill, saying that while it “takes a small step forward, it is still quite restrictive.”

“It only allows [cultivation by] individuals who own their own property and have the means to securely store and lock up both plants and products,” she said, noting that “all potential growing locations that could be authorized would have to be reported to the state, ensuring the proper oversight and regulation.”

Altschiller argued the reform would ensure easier access to patients who live far from dispensaries—known in New Hampshire as alternative treatment centers (ATCs)—and allow patients to obtain medicine more affordably.

“With only a handful of alternative treatment centers currently operating in the state, access is very limited,” she said. “Along with this, it’s important to recognize that cannabis remains cost prohibitive for many chronically ill individuals, especially since it is not covered by insurance.”

Senators were initially split on how to handle HB 53, with a first vote coming up 12–12. After a number of short recesses, however, the body voted 16–8 along party lines to table the bill.

Another measure, tabled on a 15–9 Senate vote, would have broadly legalized marijuana for adults. It would not, however, have established any state oversight or regulation.

That bill, HB 75, from Rep. Kevin Verville (R), would have removed state penalties around cannabis-related conduct for adults 21 and older. Unlike legalization measures in other states, however, it would not establish a licensed commercial market or a broader regulatory scheme.

The proposal included no limits on marijuana possession or cultivation, and it would have carved out marijuana from the state’s laws against illicit drug sales.

Sen. Donovan Fenton (D) said the bill would allow the state to “finally begin to create a thoughtful regulatory framework, one that prioritizes public health safety and economic opportunity.”

Fenton further argued that the legislation “lays the foundation for a fair and responsible cannabis market” and would “help eliminate racial disparities and bring equality to a system that has failed so many for so long.”

A third bill tabled by the Senate on Thursday was HB 51, another bill from Thomas. Aimed at lowering the costs of medical marijuana products containing cannabinoids like CBD, the measure would have allow ATCs to buy nonintoxicating cannabinoids on the commercial market and include them in products after lab testing.

Currently ATCs must produce all cannabis themselves, which proponents of the bill said is expensive given the state’s strict security rules around cultivation.

The bill would not have applied to hemp-derived THC but only to nonintoxicating cannabinoids such as and cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabigerol (CBG). The activity would have been regulated by the Department of Health and Human Services.

There was no debate on HB 51 among senators, who passed the bill on a voice vote.

A day earlier, the Senate Judiciary Committee marked three separate bills as inexpedient to legislate, recommending they be rejected by the full Senate.

Those included a separate measure to legalize simple marijuana possession by adults, a proposal to increase medical cannabis possession limits and a bill that would allow harm reduction organizations to legally use drug testing strips to check substances for contaminants.

The committee also took testimony on three other drug-related bills—including measures that would decriminalize possession of psilocybin, allow greenhouse cultivation by existing medical marijuana businesses and lessen penalties for state-registered patients who illegally sell their marijuana—but did not act on those proposals.

All those bills have already been passed by House lawmakers.

Despite the committee recommendations, all the bills will nevertheless move to the Senate floor, at which point the full body will have the option to act on them.

Late last month, meanwhile, Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) reiterated her opposition to legalization in the Granite State.

“I’ve been very clear on this,” Ayotte told reporters. “I ran on this issue, and the people of New Hampshire know where I stand on it. I don’t support it.”

A former U.S. senator and state attorney general, Ayotte said repeatedly on the campaign trail last year that she would oppose efforts at adult-use legalization.

Last legislative session, New Hampshire lawmakers nearly passed a bill that would have legalized and regulated marijuana for adults—a proposal that then-Gov. Chris Sununu (R) had indicated he’d support. But infighting over how the market would be set up ultimately scuttled that measure. House Democrats narrowly voted to table it at the last minute, taking issue with the proposal’s state-controlled franchise model, which would have given the state unprecedented sway over retail stores and consumer prices.

A poll from last June found that almost two thirds (65 percent) of New Hampshire residents supported legalizing marijuana. Nearly that same share of residents (61 percent) said at the time that they also supported last session’s failed legalization bill, HB 1633.

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Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.

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