New Hampshire’s Senate Majority Leader is indicating that the marijuana legalization bill passed by the House will be defeated this week on its floor after Tuesday, a key committee voted it down. The reported plans for a cannabis legalization amendment based on a state-run system that the Governor’s Office allegedly advised (but later denied) are not materializing.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines against the comprehensive legalization bill from bipartisan House leadership. The legislation will still be debated on Thursday.
In a statement released after the vote, Senate Majority leader Sharon Carson (R), the chair of the Judiciary Committee said that New Hampshire “is grappling with the devastating impacts of the drug epidemic on individuals, their families and communities.”
She said: “I recognize that there are many different opinions about the legalization and use of recreational drugs. However, this is not the time to take such a step.”
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Gov. Chris Sununu, (R), shares this sentiment and raises even more doubts regarding the prospects of legalization in this session. He stated last week that the State should only change its policy after it has addressed other drug-related problems.
“You don’t do it for money,” he said . That’s not the reason you do it. “You’d do it for harm reduction and the opportunities that citizens have.”
Senate President Jeb Bradly (R) also stated that he would oppose the bill and predicted it’d fail on the floor.
The HB 639 proposal is just one of many cannabis legalization bills that have been proposed in recent sessions. On Tuesday, the Judiciary Committee also defeated a bill to legalize cannabis for non-commercial purposes as well as another measure to allow medical marijuana patients to grow their plants.
The panel discussed the proposals at an earlier hearing scheduled by the panel on the cannabis holiday, 4/20 , last month.
While it appears that the Senate will reject the House’s reform proposal, as they did last year, and several times in previous sessions , WMUR announced on Tuesday that legislators had negotiated a legalization amendment which the Governor would support if passed on the floor.
A lawmaker who is familiar with negotiations on cannabis legalization told @WMUR9 @TheNHSenate they have an amendment that, if it passes, will be supported by @GovChrisSununu. However, the Governor’s office says he is “unaware of any legalization amendment.” #NHPolitics #WMUR pic.twitter.com/jolGiYQ2cL
Adam Sexton (@AdamSextonWMUR May 9, 2019
A spokesperson for the Governor said they “were not aware of any legalization amendement.” And, according to a source who is familiar with the discussions, they don’t expect that the amendment will be introduced anytime soon.
The source claimed that it would have implemented a state-run market for marijuana, according to legislation passed by the House of Representatives last year.
House Majority leader Jason Osborne, sponsor of HB639, said he would be willing to delay Senate-passed legislation that is in his chamber if the senators continue “kicking the can further down the road” with marijuana reform.
Majority Leader @Osborne4NH on House cannabis legalization legislation now in @TheNHSenate : “… there are many Senate bills currently in the House & it would a shame to see them go.” #NHPolitics #WMUR pic.twitter.com/6ivDfYv4yb
Adam Sexton 8 May 2023 HTML0
It is a disappointment for marijuana reform advocates that the likely failure of the bill to legalize marijuana, which passed the House last month with more than two thirds of the votes cast. They had hoped certain changes in the Senate after the election last year would tilt the scales in favor of cannabis reform.
Sen. Dan Innis, R. is one of those freshmen GOP senators who has been open to reform. however told The Boston Globe he was “a bit of a swing voter” in the case of this particular bill and that he had received “some pressure” by people on both sides. He refused to reveal how he’d vote on the floor.
This is what HB639 would achieve:
Adults aged 21 or older can purchase, possess, and give away up to 4 ounces cannabis.
The newly renamed Liquor and Cannabis Commission will be responsible for the regulation of the marijuana market and granting business licenses.
The number of marijuana businesses licensed in the state would not be capped.
The state Department of Health and Human Services and the commission must develop regulations within 18 months of enactment to allow existing medical cannabis dispensaries apply for dual licensing to begin serving adult consumers.
Wholesale cannabis products would be subject to a tax of 12.5% of the final value of the product.
After covering the costs associated with legalization, $100,000 in revenue will be used to fund the collection of data and reports on the health effects of cannabis prohibition and cannabis regulations.
The remaining funds would then be distributed to towns and cities to offset education taxes, 30 percent to the New Hampshire Retirement System to offset its unfunded accrued liabilities, 10 percent (or $25 million, whichever is lower) to fund substance abuse programs, 5 % to hire and train experts in drug recognition, and 5 % to support children’s mental health services.
Local governments can limit or prohibit marijuana businesses in their locality.
State or local government employees who use marijuana outside of work would have employment protections. Cannabis use could not be used to deny or withdraw professional and occupational licenses.
Marijuana businesses can deduct their business expenses when filing taxes with the state.
No provisions exist to allow cannabis cultivation at home or to annul previous convictions.
The Senate has not yet passed the House-approved marijuana law that would have established non-commercial and state run marijuana laws.
After the Senate rejected these bills last year the House included legalization as an amendment to separate criminal-justice-related legislation, but this was also struck down by the opposite chamber.
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Photo by Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.
The article Top New Hampshire senators signal marijuana legalization bill will fail on the floor this week first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
