New Hampshire House legislators are considering a bill which could be used to legalize marijuana by creating a hybridized market that is run by the state and licensed privately. However, there’s a lot of confusion over the proposed amendment. Initially hailed as a compromise, some supporters now believe it may not work.
Tuesday, the House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee (CCAC) voted to revisit SB98 – a bill that deals with alcohol license payments but is unrelated – and then discussed Chairman John Hunt’s (R), legalization amendment. Members will vote next week in an executive session on this amendment.
The move follows the recent policy pivot by the Republican Governor in favor of ending prohibition through a state-run system and the Senate ‘s vote last week for the creation of a study committee that will examine possible legalization models.
The Senate rejected this month a marijuana legalization measure that was sponsored by the bipartisan leadership of the House and also tabled another non-commercial legalization plan, both which had been approved by the entire House.
The panel’s question on Tuesday was largely about timing. Should the House proceed with the state-run amendment to an unrelated measure and possibly enact reform this year or should it keep another standalone legalization measures that hasn’t yet been acted upon and return to the topic next year after potentially looking into the issue through a study committee?
Hunt stated on Tuesday that “some people would not support any marijuana legislation no matter what.” What happened here was that we had a second, unexpected thought about marijuana legislation.
He said: “I would tell you that it is a question of whether we want to do this or if we are just going to wait.”
The committee voted to reconsider HB98, and to leave open the possibility of voting on the chairman’s proposed amendment next week. However, Tuesday’s discussion revealed a great deal of confusion among the members and stakeholders regarding the seemingly contradictory wording in the revised proposal.
Matt Simon, Director of Public and Government Relations at Prime Alternative Treatment Centers in New Hampshire, gave a Dickensian view of the proposal. “It is both the best and the worst amendments.”
He stated that he would be willing to discuss the “compromise proposal”, pointing out that the language of the amendment would still allow existing medical dispensaries, to have a license to sell cannabis to adults, while the Liquor Commission, would take the lead in the market, through the state-run shops. The amendment, as it is currently drafted would allow regulators to grant licenses to individuals who operate agency shops for a season or an annual basis.
Simon was not satisfied with the discussion in the committee. He felt that it had shifted to a state-run model.
(Disclosure – Simon supports Marijuana Moment through a pledge every month on Patreon.
Michael Holt, of the Department of Health and Human Services of the State (DHHS), told the panel, “From the perspective of the of state’s therapeutic marijuana program, the proposed state control model works only because it permits dual use licenses to [alternative therapy centers] participate in retail sale of cannabis.
He said, “It is the only way that this model will work.” Without this allowance, ATCs’ ability to continue participating in the state’s therapeutic cannabis programs will be severely harmed. The viability and effectiveness of the program would also be at risk.
Karen O’Keefe was the director of state policy at Marijuana Policy Project. She did not attend Tuesday’s meeting, but a letter that she sent to members of the committee and an Op-Ed that she wrote for The Concord Monitor have been cited at various points. She raised questions regarding the risks of federal preemption in a state-controlled model for legalization, which would essentially tell state employees to violate the Controlled Substances Act.
O’Keefe writes that, given the possibility of preemption, the state could legalize but then abandon the effort due to risks. She said that at the very least “New Hampshire’s approach to legalization should include a safety-valve to allow automatic private sales in case of state-run shops not opening.”
The amendment is expected to be revised, even if it’s just to fix the internally contradictory wording. Many stakeholders hope that legislators will commit to pursuing a new hybrid model, allowing medical dispensaries the ability to get dual licenses. The state can still operate storefronts as it does now for alcohol. And regulators are allowed to license private individuals for agency shops.
Hunt stated at the end of the public hearing on Tuesday that he would be sharing feedback with the Liquor Commission, and will rework his amended amendment to find “someway to keep the ATCs involved because everyone seems to want to hug an ATC in this week.”
The amendment as drafted would allow adults over 21 to possess up four ounces or 20 grams concentrates. Home cultivation is not allowed, and cannabis products will be tax-free.
The penalties for smoking in public would be increased. It also calls for a vote in the municipal councils of cities who wish to allow cannabis retailers and establishments in November 2024.
The House also rejected a separate marijuana legalization bill that was proposed last week as part of an expansion of Medicaid.
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Last year, a bill passed by the House to legalize the state model through the legislation was defeated unanimously in the Senate. The Senate may be more willing to consider reform now that the House has passed the study commission bill last week. However, several lawmakers and the Governor have indicated they will wait until next year to implement any changes.
Sen. Tim Lang, R., who is one three new GOP senators that supported the state-run bill during the last session when he was in the House of Representatives said that the reform shouldn’t be “rapidly advanced” and that certain issues with the previous state-run measure “still need to covered.”
He said the bill was a “great start for us.” “I don’t expect we’ll get it done in this session but we will this term.”
Advocates and stakeholders expressed concern about the prospect of a state controlled cannabis model. They preferred a conventional market, like the one that was sponsored by the majority and minority leadership in the House and which the Senate rejected earlier this month.
Last week, the Senate moved to introduce legislation that would allow patients and designated caregivers up to three mature, three immature and 12 seedlings of cannabis for their own therapeutic use.
After rejecting reform bills in 2022 by the Senate, the House added legalization language to separate criminal justice legislation – but this was also rejected in the opposing chamber .
Congressional Committee blocks GOP-led Marijuana Legalization and Fentanyl Contamination amendments from floor votes
Photo by Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.
The post New Hampshire House Committee opens door to state-run marijuana legalization amendment, though confusion abounds over key details appeared initially on Marijuana Moment.
