A series of new laws signed by Gov. Chris Sununu are expanding New Hampshire’s medical cannabis program.The laws will broaden the list of qualifying symptoms to include generalized anxiety disorder and allow health care providers to prescribe the drug to patients for any debilitating medical condition that could be relieved through cannabis. Keenan Plum, the president and CEO of the medical caregiver GraniteLeaf, said dispensaries around New Hampshire have worked in recent years to adjust with each incremental step the medical program has taken. “As the program has expanded,” Plum said, “we’ve grown with it, we’ve expanded what we make, we’ve expanded what we provide as services.”As the medical program grows, the state will remain the only state in the northeast without a recreational cannabis program. State lawmakers in Concord failed to reach a deal on legalization, butting heads over the framework of how the marketplace should look and work. While Sununu announced he would support a bill modeled after the state’s liquor store franchise model, some state lawmakers have continued to oppose legalization altogether. Republican Sen. Bill Gannon of Sandown opposed legalization bills in the state House this term. In an interview with News9, he pointed to concerns over increased access to the drug for minors and the lack of a roadside sobriety test for drivers equivalent to a breathalyzer. “We think we are in a good place right now and would like to stay there,” Gannon said of the state’s current cannabis policies. “If you’re going to have more here, you’re going to have people aggressively trying to sell marijuana products; you’re going to have more users.” Future steps on legalization could hinge on this November’s race for the governor’s office. Democrats Joyce Craig, Cide Warmington and Jonathan Kiper have all voiced support for legalizing cannabis. Republicans Kelly Ayotte and Chuck Morse have said they oppose legalizing the drug.
A series of new laws signed by Gov. Chris Sununu are expanding New Hampshire’s medical cannabis program.
The laws will broaden the list of qualifying symptoms to include generalized anxiety disorder and allow health care providers to prescribe the drug to patients for any debilitating medical condition that could be relieved through cannabis.
Keenan Plum, the president and CEO of the medical caregiver GraniteLeaf, said dispensaries around New Hampshire have worked in recent years to adjust with each incremental step the medical program has taken.
“As the program has expanded,” Plum said, “we’ve grown with it, we’ve expanded what we make, we’ve expanded what we provide as services.”
As the medical program grows, the state will remain the only state in the northeast without a recreational cannabis program.
State lawmakers in Concord failed to reach a deal on legalization, butting heads over the framework of how the marketplace should look and work.
While Sununu announced he would support a bill modeled after the state’s liquor store franchise model, some state lawmakers have continued to oppose legalization altogether.
Republican Sen. Bill Gannon of Sandown opposed legalization bills in the state House this term. In an interview with News9, he pointed to concerns over increased access to the drug for minors and the lack of a roadside sobriety test for drivers equivalent to a breathalyzer.
“We think we are in a good place right now and would like to stay there,” Gannon said of the state’s current cannabis policies. “If you’re going to have more here, you’re going to have people aggressively trying to sell marijuana products; you’re going to have more users.”
Future steps on legalization could hinge on this November’s race for the governor’s office.
Republicans Kelly Ayotte and Chuck Morse have said they oppose legalizing the drug.
