Advocates seek to end state's "island of prohibition" status; voter referral to legalize cannabis proposed

Last update: October 6, 2021

New Hampshire continues to lag behind other New England states on cannabis policy, but the tide of public opinion has turned strongly in favor of reform. Now that the “Live Free or Die” state is surrounded by jurisdictions where cannabis is legal for adults, the arguments for maintaining prohibition become weaker each day.

Sadly, advocates experienced several setbacks in the 2020 election. Gov. Chris Sununu, who opposes legalization, won re-election by a wide margin, and Republicans regained majority control of both the House and Senate. (While there are a number of Republican supporters of legalization in the New Hampshire General Court, the changes to the legislature resulted in fewer allies and more opponents.)

Although two legalization bills were introduced in the House in 2021, both have been “retained” by the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, effectively delaying a vote until 2022. HB 237 would legalize, regulate, and tax cannabis for adults 21 and older, and HB 629 would simply legalize possession and limited home cultivation. You can read a summary of HB 237 here and a summary of HB 629 here.

While some politicians continue to oppose sensible reforms, public opinion continues to turn strongly against the prohibition of cannabis. A poll published in May by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center found that 75% of Granite Staters support legalization.

House Minority Leader Renny Cushing (D) has proposed a new approach: while New Hampshire lacks a citizen initiative process, lawmakers themselves can refer constitutional amendments to voters. Leader Cushing has proposed a voter referral to legalize cannabis for adults. It would require 60% of each the House and Senate to place the measure on the ballot, then a full two-thirds of voters would have to sign on. 

House approves home cultivation for patients (again), but Senate rejects the legislation

Although New Hampshire passed a medical cannabis law in 2013, home cultivation remains a felony for patients and caregivers in the “Live Free or Die” state. Since then, the House has passed several home cultivation bills, but they have faced significant challenges in the Senate and have not been supported by any of the last three New Hampshire governors.

Legislators made another attempt in 2021. Rep. Dennis Acton (R-Fremont) introduced HB 350, which was identical to the previous two home cultivation bills, and House Minority Leader Renny Cushing (D-Hampton) cosponsored the bill. HB 350 was approved by the House Committee on Health, Human Services, and Elderly Affairs in a 20-1 vote, and it passed the full House without debate on February 24. On May 5, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee decided against passing the bill in a party-line vote. Click here to learn how the senators on that committee voted on HB 350.

On May 13, the Senate voted 15-9 to “table” the bill, effectively removing it from consideration. If you live in New Hampshire, please send your senator an email to follow up on their vote.

Unfortunately, the Senate has historically been much less supportive than the House. In 2019, for the first time since 2012, the Senate approved a similar bill that would have allowed home cultivation of cannabis by registered patients and caregivers. In a 14-10 vote, the Senate passed HB 364; the House had already passed the bill in a voice vote. 

Sadly, Gov. Chris Sununu vetoed HB 364 on August 2, 2019. The House voted to override the governor’s veto on September 18, 2019 in a 259-120 vote, but the effort fell short by three votes in the Senate on the following day. An identical bill, SB 420, passed the Senate in February 2020 in a voice vote, but the House suspended its work in light of COVID-19, and the bill did not receive a hearing or a vote.

New Hampshire’s therapeutic cannabis program was created on July 23, 2013, when then-Gov. Maggie Hassan signed a bill allowing seriously ill New Hampshire residents to use cannabis for medical purposes.

A terminally ill lung cancer patient, Linda Horan, became the first patient to receive an ID card in December 2015 after she sued the state and won, and she was able to visit a dispensary in Maine to obtain cannabis legally prior to her passing in 2016. MPP was proud to have supported both the legislative effort and this lawsuit, and we are grateful to Linda, her attorney, Paul Twomey, and Rep. Renny Cushing for their efforts on behalf of all New Hampshire patients.

The first N.H. dispensary began serving patients on April 30, 2016, and the other three approved dispensaries opened in the summer of 2016. A bill passed in 2019 that allows each of the existing dispensaries to open a second location, subject to approval by state regulators.

In 2017, Gov. Chris Sununu signed into law HB 160, which added post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other conditions to the law, and HB 157, which added moderate to severe chronic pain. You can read a summary of the changes here.

You can read more about the program and access application forms at the department’s website.

MPP’s Matt Simon and former Rep. Evalyn Merrick — who sponsored
medical cannabis legislation — after the signing of HB 573 in 2013.

N.H. stops arresting people for possessing small amounts of cannabis and enables annulment of records!

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. The law took effect on January 1, 2020.

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’d like to thank attorney Paul Twomey, the ACLU-NH, the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance, and HB 640 sponsor Rep. Renny Cushing (D-Hampton) for their tireless efforts in support of sensible cannabis policy reforms.

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