CONCORD — After a long and rocky road, legal cannabis in New Hampshire is dead.
After being passed by the Senate 14-10 in the morning, the New Hampshire House of Representatives tabled the bill to legalize cannabis in the state by just 5 votes, 178-173, effectively killing it.
The final House Bill 1633 called for a state-controlled “franchise” model of cannabis stores, an approach pushed by the Senate that Gov. Chris Sununu has supported. It had some compromises from both sides, the New Hampshire Bulletin reported: it included the Senate-proposed 15% tax on cannabis sales and would’ve allowed cannabis industry representation to a control board that would make the rules and regulations around growing, testing, and selling, something pushed by the House. If passed and signed, possession of up to an ounce of cannabis would’ve been legalized immediately.
On Wednesday, Gov. Chris Sununu said he would take a “strong look” at the bill if it came to his desk, saying that he didn’t see any “huge red flags” and that they’ve tried to develop a system that is built “around the concept of safety.” But he also said he wasn’t sure if it would actually get to him.
The bill has faced steady opposition in the House, as many Democrats opposed the franchise model.
“I seriously want to legalize cannabis sales in New Hampshire, but the fact is, despite the recent tweaks, this remains a terrible bill,” said Rep. Jared Sullivan, D-Bethlehem, on the House floor Thursday. “One that massively increases the size of government by allowing it to take over an entirely new industry and opens the door to the possibility of rampant corruption and cronyism as the well-connected vie for an extremely limited number of licenses.”
The bill’s original sponsor, Erica Layon, R-Derry, said this bill could make history as well as “get the ball rolling” in New Hampshire. She said that they could work on some of the concerns of the bill next year.
But Sullivan said he doesn’t think they will be able to fix the bill in the future.
“Does anyone in here actually believe that we will be able to reel in a newly empowered government bureaucracy after they’ve spent millions of dollars? Does anyone actually believe it will be easy to pull back power from an unelected agency once they have it?” Sullivan asked. “The logic that we can fix something next year is counterintuitive because if next year we have the ability to pass a new bill to fix this terrible one, then we should just pass a good bill next year.”
Rep. John Hunt, R-Rindge, attempting to overturn the tabling motion, said this could be “the moment to send the message that we can pass this bill.”
It wasn’t, and so the fight to legalize cannabis is now over for the 2024 legislative session.
American Civil Liberties Union-New Hampshire stated pushing off legalization shows lawmakers are “willing to ignore the will of their own constituents” and the drug’s continued illegality will continue to “needlessly ensnare” people in New Hampshire’s criminal justice system.
“Despite a unique window of opportunity and growing excitement about legalization, today, New Hampshire lawmakers failed to pass legislation to legalize marijuana,” said Devon Chaffee, executive director of the ACLU-New Hampshire. “Marijuana legalization is not just a political squabble about the economic benefits – the war on marijuana has real-life impacts. While politicians argue, the impacts of these arrests will continue to ruin lives.”
