House-backed legislation depenalizing adult-use marijuana possession and expanding patients’ access to medical cannabis has stalled in the state’s Republican-led Senate.
Senators voted largely along party lines to table two bills: House Bill 75, which seeks to legalize the possession of marijuana by those age 21 and older and House Bill 53, which seeks to permit state-registered patients to home-cultivate limited quantities of cannabis. Members voted 15 to 9 to table HB 75 and 16 to 8 to table HB 53. Both bills had previously passed the House on voice votes.
Senate Republicans currently outnumber Senate Democrats by a margin of two to one. Newly elected Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte is also opposed to liberalizing the state’s marijuana laws.
Statewide polling consistently finds that a super-majority of New Hampshire residents “support the legalization of marijuana for recreational use.”
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee also recently voted against House Bill 190, which increases the amount of cannabis that may be possessed by qualified patients and House Bill 198, which permits adults to possess up to two ounces of marijuana without penalty. In both instances, the majority deemed the bills “inexpedient to legislate.” Members of the committee have yet to take action on House Bill 196, which annuls certain marijuana-related convictions.
“Despite the popularity of these issues among New Hampshire voters, the Senate continue to be an impediment to reform,” NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano said. “Far too often, this body engages in partisan politics rather than working toward the interests of the majority of New Hampshire voters who want to see marijuana legal in the ‘Live Free of Die’ state.”
New Hampshire is the only New England state that has not legalized the adult-use cannabis market. (The possession of up to three-quarters of an ounce of cannabis is decriminalized.) It is also the only New England state that prohibits patients from home cultivation.
A state-by-state guide to pending marijuana legislation and NORML action alerts is available from NORML’s Take Action Center.
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