New Hampshire Governor Says Marijuana Legalization is 'Inevitable', Though He's Not A Huge Believer' In The Idea

New Hampshire’s commission is set to introduce a bill by the end this month to legalize marijuana sales via a state-controlled system. Chris Sununu, a Republican, said that reform was “inevitable,” and the state had “an opportunity” to get it right.

Sununu told the New Hampshire Center for Public Interest Journalism InDepthNH.org that they were looking into it. “I don’t believe in it. I accept that it’s inevitable. “I think we can do it right”

The Governor spoke at an event to celebrate New Hampshire’s ranking at the top of the Cato Institute report “Freedom in the 50 States,” a study that takes into account over 200 policy variables, including income taxes, labor regulations and rules regarding raw milk. New Hampshire was ranked 23rd in terms of cannabis policies.

Sununu said it was “pretty fascinating” that the Cato Report placed more emphasis on flexibility with marijuana policy than on flexibility with liquor. He said, “But that’s just the way things are,” “There is a chance to do it right.”

Since 2016, there are only seven medical marijuana dispensaries in the entire state. In recent years, lawmakers have dabbled in adult-use marijuana legalization. The House of Representatives has passed multiple bills which have then died in the Senate. Now, as the result of a legislative compromise earlier this year, a state commission has until the end of the month to submit a report on how to legalize cannabis through a government-controlled system.

In the study bill, which was passed by lawmakers and signed by Sununu, it initially called for a proposal that would create a marijuana sales system similar to how New Hampshire manages liquor sales through a network of state-run shops. In September, the members of the commission began to consider an alternative system that would be a franchise-style model . The state would oversee the look and feel of the industry, while private licensees handle the day-to-day sales and cultivation.

The commission’s meetings have highlighted the controversy surrounding the legalization of marijuana. Several panelists are against marijuana legalization and use in general. One member said last week that the bill of the commission was “the most irresponsible legislation I have ever been involved with”, because it would “increase addiction [and] death.”

The commission will release an updated bill draft before its next meeting, scheduled for November 27. The group failed to agree on a number of issues, including penalties for public consumption, impaired driving rules, and how existing medical marijuana dispensaries in the state, also known as Alternative Treatment Centers (ATCs), could be incorporated into a new state regulatory scheme.

New Hampshire, the state that recently eliminated its last remaining income tax, was ranked number one in the nation in terms economic freedom, and second for fiscal and educational freedom, according to the Cato Report. The report’s cannabis ranking, which is ranked 23rd in the country (for some reason it combines salvia policies into one section), is mediocre.

Cato’s Cannabis rankings placed California, Maine, Alaska and Massachusetts at the top, followed by Arizona, Oregon, Arizona, Maine, and Maine. Texas, Tennessee and Georgia ranked at the bottom of Cato’s cannabis rankings.

Cato’s new report found that the drug policies of the “Live Free or Die State” were insufficient. The report also criticized New Hampshire’s high tobacco taxes and state-run, regulated liquor shops.

Colin Booth, a spokesman of the state Democratic Party questioned the Cato Report’s definition for “freedom” and noted in comments to InDepthNH.org, that abortion access was not taken into consideration in any way in the rankings. Sununu passed the first abortion ban of modern times in New Hampshire, which prohibited abortions after 24 weeks.

Booth stated that the report was a “symphony of conservative politics”.

The press release issued by Sununu’s Office about the Cato Institute’s top honors does not mention marijuana.

It is not by accident that we are ranked #1 in Freedom, with the highest freedom score of all time. We earn it every day in Live Free or Die State.

No income taxNo sales tax

Education Freedom

The most efficient government in the nation

Local control

NH DOES THIS BEST! pic.twitter.com/nDF6DRwc51

— Chris Sununu 16 November 2023

Sununu, who has been a long-time opponent of marijuana legalization has softened his stance since his reelection 2022. He stated in a debate that reform was “possible” but added that states should “be patient with how they do it.”

The governor reacted in May. Sununu announced his support for an alternative proposal a day after the state Senate rejected a marijuana-legalization bill.

Under the New Hampshire Legalization Study Group, Commissioners had been given the task of studying the feasibility and drafting legislation for a state-run marijuana model.

Keep marijuana out of the schools and away from children
Controls the marketing of marijuana
Prohibit “marijuana Miles” or oversaturation in marijuana retail establishments
Municipalities can choose whether to restrict or prohibit marijuana retail establishments
Multi-drug abuse is reduced
Has no additional tax to stay competitive

After the New Hampshire state commission has issued its final recommendations, it is not clear who will introduce New Hampshire’s next legalization legislation.

Rep. John Hunt, a Republican who served as the chairperson of the House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee in this year’s session, spent a lot of time working on marijuana reform during the session and tried to find a compromise for legalization by implementing a system with multiple levels, including state-controlled shops and dual licensing, which would allow existing medical cannabis dispensaries to continue operating, and private businesses licensed to individuals privately by state agencies.

Hunt’s House committee, however, came to a deadlock on the complex legislation that was being considered after Sununu made his surprise announcement about his support for state-run legalization. The Senate , however, defeated HB 639 despite bipartisan support.

The legalization study provisions in the underlying legislation of the commission that was signed into law by the governor would also remove the requirement that patients with 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, 3 immature plants, and three mature plants for their own therapeutic use.

After rejecting reform bills in 2022 by the Senate, the House added legalization language to separate criminal justice legislation as an amendment. But this was also rejected in the opposing chamber .