States that have both a medical marijuana law and have removed jail time for possessing small amounts of marijuana
Updates
Last update: February 27, 2024
Make 2024 the year N.H. legalizes
New Hampshire is the only state in New England that hasn’t legalized and regulated cannabis for adults. But, over 70% voter support has become increasingly difficult to ignore.
On April 6, 2023, the House passed a solid legalization bill (HB 639) in a 272-109 (71%) vote, sending it to the Senate. The next month, the N.H. Senate defeated the bill in a 14-10 vote.
The day after the Senate defeat, Gov. Chris Sununu (R) opined legalization in New Hampshire is inevitable, given popular will, and he said he would sign a bill with certain features, including state-run stores. Three Republican senators who voted “no” in 2023 had previously supported state-run stores bills, so a bill with Sununu’s support would have greatly improved the odds of passage. The legislature then authorized a study commission and charged it with studying the feasibility of state-run stores and creating a draft bill by December 1, 2023.
The study commission met several times in the fall, but it included several prohibitionists and prior “no” votes on legalization. The commission failed to recommend a bill, though its chair produced draft legislation based on their line-by-line discussions. During the meetings, New Hampshire’s liquor commissioner proposed a “franchise model” whereby the state would control the look and feel of retailers, and collect 15% of their sales, but they would be privately operated. And in the final meeting, the governor’s representative said he would only accept a bill with a total of 15 stores.
The only legalization bill introduced in 2024 has been Rep. Erica Layon’s HB 1633, which would legalize and regulate cannabis with private stores. In a move to compromise with senators and the governor’s position, Rep. Layon offered significant amendments, which were accepted by the House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee on February 14, 2024. The bill retains private stores, but includes extensive state regulations, bans advertising to the general public, and starts with a cap of 15 stores. HB 1633 now heads to the House floor.
Other Cannabis Proposals Under Consideration — Both Good and Bad
Several other cannabis policy bills have been introduced, both good and bad. Rep. Jonah Wheeler’s HB 1539 would automatically annul violation and possession-level cannabis offenses, while creating a state-initiated process to consider annulment and re-sentencing for all other cannabis offenses.
Other lawmakers have introduced bills to improve the medical cannabis program, including by expanding qualifying conditions, doubling possession limits, allowing home cultivation, codifying employment protections for medical cannabis patients, and allowing more types of certifying healthcare providers.
If you’d like to reach out to your senators on these bills, you can find their information on the legislative site.
Meanwhile, Sen. Bill Gannon introduced three bills to move cannabis policy backwards. He backtracked following strong public opposition, amending out the most problematic provisions of two bills. But the third, SB 426, remains a threat. The vague, harsh bill would re-criminalize New Hampshire drivers for having cannabis in their motor vehicle except in narrow circumstances. Cannabis would have to be in one’s trunk or, if there isn’t one, the “least accessible” location. Cannabis would also have to be in a “secure container,” which is not defined. Failing to do so would carry both a criminal fine and revocation of one’s driver’s license for at least two months. This is far harsher than New Hampshire’s open container law for alcohol, which has no mandatory license suspension.
Unfortunately, a bill to provide employment protections, HB 82, has stalled in the House, but it can be taken up next year.
N.H.’s decriminalization and annulment laws
On July 18, 2017, Gov. Chris Sununu signed HB 640, a cannabis decriminalization bill, into law. The law reduced penalties for possessing three-quarters of an ounce or less of cannabis from a criminal misdemeanor to a civil violation punishable only by a fine (a summary of the law is here).
Then, in 2019, Gov. Sununu signed HB 399, which allows people who received misdemeanor convictions for possessing small amounts of cannabis prior to decriminalization to have their records annulled.
MPP advocated for decriminalization in New Hampshire for more than a decade in advance of this victory. However, we know that this progress would not have been possible without the hard work of our many dedicated allies. In particular, we are grateful to attorney Paul Twomey, the ACLU-NH, the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance, and HB 640 sponsor Rep. Renny Cushing (who passed away on March 7, 2022) for their tireless efforts in support of sensible cannabis policy reforms.
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