Separate New Hampshire Senate committees have pushed back against cannabis reform legislation, effectively killing the state’s legalization opportunities for 2020.
New Hampshire Cannabis Legalization Push Stalls In Senate
Fall leaves on the lawn at the State Capital Building of New Hampshire at Concord
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A bill to legalize cannabis for adult use in New Hampshire appears to have lost its momentum in the state Senate, where lawmakers in the Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to kick the proposal to interim study, effectively killing the state’s 2020 legalization hopes, New Hampshire Public Radio reports.
The bill, which was approved earlier this year by the House, would have allowed for the adult possession of up to 28 grams of cannabis flower and the home growing of up to six cannabis plants; the bill also aimed to establish a regulatory committee to create rules and regulations for a legal cannabis industry and would have set a cannabis excise tax at 9 percent.
Senators also rejected a bill that would have let doctors make medical cannabis recommendations for “any condition.”
In New Hampshire, Democrats control both the House and Senate, though Republican Gov. Chris Sununu has already said he would veto any adult-use cannabis reforms that reach his desk — the governor, however, did sign a decriminalization bill into law in 2017.
New Hampshire is surrounded on all sides by legal cannabis markets, including Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Canada. Meanwhile, nearby New York is expected to make a strong legalization push in 2020.
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