New Hampshire’s commission to prepare legislation to legalize the sale of marijuana through a state-run store system has been officially established. Members have been appointed and the first meeting is scheduled for next Monday.
The bill was signed by the governor earlier this month, after the bipartisan and bicameral legislators had reached an agreement on incremental reform through a conference committee.
The panel is now in place, and its 17 members have varying records when it comes to cannabis policy.
The commission consists of five House members, five Senate members, a Governor’s nominee, and professionals who represent banking, health care, law enforcement, and civil rights.
The panel will hold its first meeting on Friday, September 8. It is expected that the panel will move quickly to draft and study novel legalization bills for legislators to consider during the second half the two-year legislative sessions which begins in January. The work of the commission is due on December 1.
Marijuana Moment reported that Sen. Becky Whitley, a member of the appointed commission who has been a champion of comprehensive legalization, said: “Polling shows that a vast majority of New Hampshire residents, more than 70%, support the legalization for adults of marijuana.”
In recent years, bills to legalize marijuana have been passed by the House of Representatives of the state, but they have failed in the Senate. She said, “I hope that my colleagues in the Commission will listen and offer real solutions to end the harm caused by the enforcement of marijuana prohibition.” “New Hampshire remains the only New England state that has not legalized or regulated adult cannabis.”
Whitley said, “Establishing an adult-use market in New Hampshire that is responsible and regulated is not only a good public policy but will also bring significant revenue to the state. This money is currently being sent to neighboring states,” Whitley continued. “I am looking forward to starting work.”
The commission’s focus on creating a cannabis market run by the state is largely because of Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, surprised many in May by embracing the reform model. He had come to the conclusion that the legalization of cannabis was “inevitable”, despite his concerns about the policy. He said that a state-run system is the best option to address his health and safety issues.
The conference committee approved the legislation in June that created the commission, which initially required its members to only study the idea of state stores for cannabis. Before final approval, the legislation was changed to mandate that the commission take its findings and create a state-run legalization plan for legislators to consider.
John Hunt, the chairman of the House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee, who was a conferee and now sits on the commission, worked on marijuana reform extensively this year, including recent efforts to find a compromise in legislation that would legalize marijuana this year via a multi-tiered approach, which includes state-controlled shops and dual licensing for medical cannabis dispensaries already operating.
Hunt’s panel has reached a deadlock on the complex legislation. This was after Sununu announced that he supported state-run legalization, and the Senate rejected a more conventional legalization bill passed by the House’s bipartisan leaders.
Sununu seems to be confident that his proposal for legalization will pass the Senate, but recent events raise some doubts about the lawmakers’ willingness to support the type of reform Sununu is promoting.
Last year, a bill to implement a state-run cannabis program passed the New Hampshire House. However, it was defeated unanimously in the Senate.
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The underlying legislation, which the Governor signed into law along with the provisions of the Legalization Study Commission, would also remove the requirement that patients in pain first try opioid-based treatment before they receive a recommendation for medical cannabis.
The law also clarifies that it is not intended for the sale of intoxicating hemp-derived products such as delta-8THC.
In May, the House rejected a separate marijuana legalization bill that was proposed as part a Medicaid expansion measure.
The Senate also moved to introduce another piece of legislation in the same month, which would have allowed designated caregivers and patients to grow up to 12 seedlings, three immature and three mature plants for their own therapeutic use.
After the Senate rejected reform legislation in 2022 the House included legalization as an amendment to separate criminal-justice-related legislation, but this was also struck down by the opposing chamber.
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Photo by Brian Shamblen.
The first meeting to consider a state-run reform model is scheduled for next week. .
