New Hampshire Senate Committee Approves Marijuana Legalization Bill With Amendments

New Hampshire’s Senate Judiciary Committee advanced a marijuana legalization bill on Wednesday, marking the first time in state history that the Senate panel has signed off on the reform.

Before approving the House-passed measure, HB 1633, members adopted a sweeping amendment from Sen. Daryl Abbas (R), who chaired a failed state commission on legalization late last year.

Legalization advocates said the action represents the proposal clearing a major hurdle on its way to the desk of Gov. Chris Sununu (R).

“The odds of New Hampshire legalizing cannabis this year just dramatically increased,” Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project, told Marijuana Moment in an email. “For the first time ever, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a legalization bill after first amending the bill in a way that addresses Gov. Sununu’s parameters.”

The panel’s vote in favor of advancing the bill fell 3–2, with Abbas joined by two Democrats in support. The two other Republican members of the committee cast votes in opposition.

Sununu, who’s remained a skeptic of legalization, said recently that he’ll only sign the bill if specific provisions are included. Lawmakers, however, did not directly reference the governor or his required provisions when discussing proposed amendments Wednesday.

“Fundamentally I don’t really love this idea anyway,” the governor added at the time, but he said he sees legalization as “inevitable.”

The legalization proposal passed out of the House a month ago.

Though O’Keefe and other advocates said they’re pleased to see New Hampshire make progress toward legalization, they’re also concerned about some of the changes made by Abbas’s amendment, which, among other changes, would impose a “franchise fee”—essentially a tax—on medical marijuana sales and step up penalties for public consumption of marijuana to include the possibility of jail time.

“While this is a huge step forward, we hope to see floor amendments to restore important provisions, including exempting patients from sin taxes,” O’Keefe said.

The changes also adjust the proposal’s approach to a legal cannabis market, shifting it to a franchise model under which the state would control the look, feel and operations of stores that are licensed to private operators. Previously the measure would have used a so-called “agency store” model, which would have the state play a lesser role in terms of day-to-day oversight of stores, without, for example, having an ability to set prices.

Opponents of cannabis reform, meanwhile, put out a call to action on Wednesday encouraging residents to lobby lawmakers to vote down the proposal.

If you’re in New Hampshire, it’s time to take a stand!

Despite warnings, NH is pushing forward with HB1633 to legalize marijuana. Let’s safeguard our communities and youth. Say NO to legalization by filling out the voter voice form here: https://t.co/4EldXj3PZ8…

— SAM (@learnaboutsam) May 8, 2024

With only several months left in Sununu’s term, supporters of legalization are also weighing how the governor’s replacement would greet legalization. At least one possible successor, former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R)—one of a handful of gubernatorial candidates that’s entered the race—said recently that she opposes legalizing marijuana for adults.

“I don’t think legalizing marijuana is the right direction for our state,” said Ayotte, who represented New Hampshire in the Senate from 2011 to 2017 and was previously the state’s attorney general from 2004 to 2009.

As approved by the House last month, HB 1633 would allow 15 retail stores statewide and impose a 10 percent state charge on adult-use purchases. Medical marijuana would be exempt from the tax. Retailers would be regulated through the agency store model, with significant restrictions on marketing and advertising.

Lawmakers worked extensively on marijuana reform issues last session 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 the 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 defeated a more conventional House-passed legalization bill last year, HB 639, despite its bipartisan support.

Last May, the House defeated marijuana legalization language that was included in a Medicaid expansion bill. The Senate also 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.

This story will be updated.