{"id":75725,"date":"2024-05-29T09:13:28","date_gmt":"2024-05-29T17:13:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/05\/29\/advocates-divided-on-new-hampshire-marijuana-legalization-bill-as-senate-amended-measure-gets-final-house-vote-on-thursday\/"},"modified":"2024-05-29T12:45:48","modified_gmt":"2024-05-29T20:45:48","slug":"advocates-divided-on-new-hampshire-marijuana-legalization-bill-as-senate-amended-measure-gets-final-house-vote-on-thursday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/05\/29\/advocates-divided-on-new-hampshire-marijuana-legalization-bill-as-senate-amended-measure-gets-final-house-vote-on-thursday\/","title":{"rendered":"Advocates Divided On New Hampshire Marijuana Legalization Bill As Senate-Amended Measure Gets Final House Vote On Thursday"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

Marijuana reform advocates in New Hampshire are at odds over how they want lawmakers to proceed with a Senate-amended legalization bill<\/a> that will return the House for a final vote this week. Representatives can choose to accept the Senate amendments\u2014which would advance the measure to Gov. Chris Sununu (R)\u2014vote down the legislation entirely or send it to a bicameral conference committee in an attempt to hammer out a compromise.<\/p>\n

A range of issues separate the House- and Senate-passed versions of the bill. Generally the Senate measure takes a more conservative approach, establishing new or harsher criminal penalties for public consumption of marijuana, use in a car\u2014including by passengers\u2014and unintentional sales to a minor. The House version, by contrast, includes a higher possession amount (four ounces instead of the Senate\u2019s two) and would exempt medical marijuana products from a 15 percent state surcharge on cannabis sales.<\/p>\n

A number of other topics hang in the balance, including the basic regulatory model for the cannabis industry, how existing medical marijuana businesses could participate in the adult-use market and how many of the legislation\u2019s 15 allowed retailers any one person or entity could control.<\/p>\n

In an op-ed published this week in Marijuana Moment, advocates with the state ACLU chapter and the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) who\u2019ve poured hours into lobbying lawmakers on the bill said the current version represents an imperfect but nevertheless important reform<\/a> in New Hampshire, urging House lawmakers to accept the Senate changes and move the legislation along.<\/p>\n

Other advocates, however, as well as the proposal\u2019s lead sponsor, Rep. Erica Layon (R), say the House shouldn\u2019t sign off on the amendments.<\/p>\n

Looming over the disagreement are rumblings that if the House rejects the Senate changes and sends the bill, HB 1633, to a conference committee, Senate President Jeb Bradley (R)\u2014who opposes legalization<\/a>\u2014would likely appoint prohibitionists to the panel who could effectively quash the plan.<\/p>\n

The governor, for his part, has signaled that he would accept the Senate-amended bill<\/a> but opposed an iteration passed by the House in April<\/a>. But the Sununu\u2019s term is up next year, and the candidate currently leading in the polls, former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R), has said she would opposed legalization if elected<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe House should not let this opportunity slip away,\u201d wrote advocates in the recent op-ed, including former state Rep. Tim Egan, who led the House Democratic Cannabis Caucus while in office; ACLU of New Hampshire Executive Director Devon Chaffee; and Karen O\u2019Keefe, director of state policies for MPP.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have advocated for legalization for many years and the Senate bill is far from our model,\u201d their piece says. \u201cBut the NH Senate\u2019s HB 1633 is still an important step forward. It would legalize something that over 70 percent of Granite Staters agree should be legal and would prevent further human suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWith uncertainty on the horizon, including new state senators and a new governor in 2025,\u201d it continues, \u201cit is vitally important that the House seize this opportunity to legalize cannabis and increase freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other advocates have sharply disagreed\u2014including the New Hampshire Cannabis Association (NHCann), an organization for which Egan chairs the board.<\/p>\n

In an email to supporters last week, NHCann\u2019s founder, Daryl Eames, called the Senate-amended version of the legislation a \u201cSoviet Weed\u201d bill that\u2019s \u201cwrong for New Hampshire,\u201d adding that senators had \u201cwarped it beyond recognition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among other changes, the Senate adjustments shifted the bill\u2019s regulatory model to a franchise system, under which the government would control the look, feel and general operations of each retail store, with the state Liquor Commission even having final authority to set prices. Some critics have called for a more free-market model.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis legislation, as amended, does not serve the interests of New Hampshire residents who are desperate for economic opportunity to improve their lives in the face of soaring costs all around them and instead, creates incredible barriers to entry that serve the wealthy and connected,\u201d Eames said in a statement. \u201cWe strongly encourage representatives to stand up for the House\u2019s version of HB 1633 and vote \u2018no\u2019 on concurrence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Egan, Chaffee and O\u2019Keefe say a House vote against concurrence would likely doom the reform.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe fear that a committee of conference would kill the bill,\u201d they wrote. \u201cThe Senate president has repeatedly made it clear he would prefer HB 1633 die. And under Senate rules, he has complete control over who gets assigned to any committee of conference. If the conference committee does not agree on a new version, the bill dies. Members can refuse to sign a report and kill the bill.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senate President Bradley didn\u2019t directly answer a local reporter this week when asked whether the House would be \u201ctaking a risk\u201d by sending the bill to a conference committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I expect I would be on a committee of conference to adhere to the Senate position,\u201d he told WMUR, \u201cwhich is something that I think is much more in line with Gov. Sununu\u2019s position than where the House bill is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll see what happens,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n

Regarding the potential for negotiations with the @NHHouseofReps<\/a> over @TheNHSenate<\/a>‘s version of HB 1633 cannabis legalization @SenJeb<\/a> says: “I expect I would be on a committee of conference to adhere to the senate position\u2026” #NHPolitics<\/a> #WMUR<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/hEIbYxLzNH<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Adam Sexton (@AdamSextonWMUR) May 28, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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In the State House, however, it\u2019s not just lawmakers opposed to legalization who\u2019d like to see the bill<\/a> fizzle out. Layon, the sponsor who spent most of this year working to build consensus on her proposal, now says she also wants to see the measure fail.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to kill my own bill, because this will make things worse,\u201d she told<\/a> New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR) in a report over the weekend. \u201cI\u2019m going to get up and speak against my own bill.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others in the House have said Layon isn\u2019t alone in wanting to abandon the bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there are already a huge number of Democrats and Republicans who are ready to vote against this bill,\u201d Rep. Anita Burroughs (D), a co-sponsor of the House bill, told NHPR.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did kind of a loosey-goosey survey not too long ago, and I found at least 50 of my Democratic colleagues are going to vote to non-concur, and I think there are more Republicans who are going to non-concur,\u201d she added<\/a> in comments to The Keene Sentinel. \u201cIf I was a betting person, I would say a majority are going to non-concur.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI will support a committee of conference because if there\u2019s a way we can salvage it, I\u2019m all for it,\u201d Burroughs said, \u201cbut frankly, I\u2019m not optimistic.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Keefe at the advocacy group Marijuana Policy Project said that rejecting the Senate bill could delay legalization in New Hampshire indefinitely.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wonder what path those urging the House not to concur see for legalization if there\u2019s a Gov. Ayotte or Morse?\u201d she told Marijuana Moment, referring to another gubernatorial candidate, former state Sen. Chuck Morse (R), who opposes the reform. \u201cIf HB 1633 dies, I see no likelihood of legalization during their administrations\u2014certainly not in their early years. That would mean no protections for child custody, medical care, and professional licensing. That\u2019s a huge gamble.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHB 1633 is far better than the status quo for cannabis consumers. It stops citations and arrests, including possible jail time, for possession of up to 2 oz of cannabis starting January 1, 2026,\u201d O\u2019Keefe continued. \u201cIt also prevents people from losing their professions, children, and medical care\u2014including possibly their lives if they are denied organ transplants\u2014for responsible cannabis use.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I dislike many of the regulatory choices in the Senate version,\u201d she said, \u201cif legal sales are ultimately implemented (in this form or another), it would allow NH cannabis consumers to buy their cannabis much closer to home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burroughs, however, says she\u2019s ready to risk a hard reset on the legalization push.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, I\u2019m willing to take the crapshoot,\u201d she told NHPR, \u201cand hope that we have a governor who is willing to legalize cannabis in a more \u2018Live Free or Die\u2019 way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deputy House Majority Leader Fred Doucette (R) wrote<\/a> recently in an op-ed for the NH Journal that lawmakers should approve the bill, noting that \u201cthis may be the last chance we get for years to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s simple,\u201d Doucette wrote. \u201cWe in the House have a \u2018binary choice.\u2019 By concurring with the Senate, this policy of legalization goes on to the governor\u2019s desk. If we failed to concur, this will most certainly go to a biased committee of conference where it will certainly die once again.\u201d<\/p>\n

He noted that it\u2019s the first session ever in which the Senate has signed off on a legalization proposal.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter what disagreements (and all of us have them) with specifics in this piece of legislation, I offer this,\u201d Doucette wrote: \u201c\u2018Policy over Perfection.\u2019 Let\u2019s concur and pass the \u2018policy\u2019 component of cannabis legalization. With that policy placed into law, we can then address the imperfections we have with this specific piece of legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amid the ongoing disagreement, other lawmakers predict this simply may not be the year that New Hampshire legalizes marijuana.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn all likelihood, cannabis legalization does not happen this year,\u201d Rep. Jonah Wheeler (D), a co-sponsor of the bill, told The Keene Sentinel this week. \u201cI think that\u2019s what people are going to have to come to terms with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Daryl Abbas (R), who chaired a state commission on legalization late last year, worked alongside Bradley in recent weeks to make amendments both lawmakers agreed improved the bill. Asked how he felt about the possibility that the Senate president could ultimately torpedo the plan in a conference committee, Abbas told Marijuana Moment: \u201cI don\u2019t comment on rumors.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI will wait and see what the House does,\u201d he added, \u201cbut I\u2019m not optimistic this would survive a committee of conference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sununu\u2019s office, for its part, did not respond to a request for comment sent Tuesday asking what the governor would like to see House lawmakers do with the bill.<\/p>\n

Matt Simon, director of public and government relations at medical marijuana provider GraniteLeaf Cannabis, didn\u2019t say explicitly whether he opposes the bill in its current form, but he told Marijuana Moment in an email this week that \u201cNew Hampshire\u2019s cannabis community will certainly not be celebrating if the House concurs with the Senate\u2019s amendments.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think representatives have some very good reasons for being concerned about the Senate\u2019s amendment to HB 1633,\u201d Simon said. \u201cOne is that the Therapeutic Cannabis Program will face a very uncertain future if it becomes law. We\u2019ve been trying for months to work out a compromise with legislators, but the Senate\u2019s amendment eliminated key provisions that we considered essential.\u201d<\/p>\n

Referring to advocates\u2019 op-ed in favor of the House concurring with the Senate plan, Simon noted he noted that it \u201cacknowledges that the bill contains serious flaws, so it is clear that representatives who support legalization will face a difficult choice on Thursday.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Disclosure: Simon supports Marijuana Moment\u2019s work via a\u00a0monthly Patreon pledge<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

In its current version, the proposal would allow 15 franchise stores to open statewide. Purchases would incur a 15 percent \u201cfranchise fee\u201d\u2014effectively a tax\u2014that would apply to both adult-use and medical marijuana purchases. Though stores would be privately run, the government would control their look, feel and operations.<\/p>\n

The proposal would limit each municipality to only a single cannabis retail establishment unless it\u2019s home to more than 50,000 people, though only two cities in the state, Manchester and Nashua, meet that threshold. Local voters would also need to pre-approve the industry in order for businesses to open in that jurisdiction.<\/p>\n

Adults could possess up to two ounces of marijuana. Home cultivation of cannabis for personal use would remain illegal, and the state\u2019s Cannabis Control Commission would have the authority to enforce that provision.<\/p>\n

The bill would also establish a misdemeanor offense for consuming marijuana in public, with second and subsequent offenses carrying the possibility of jail time. And it would create a civil penalty for smoking or vaping in a vehicle, including by passengers, with a second offense within five years qualifying for a misdemeanor charge.<\/p>\n

As\u00a0passed by the House, the legislation would have legalized through a so-called \u201cagency store\u201d model proposed by Layon, in which the state would oversee a system of privately run stores.<\/p>\n

The franchise plan was a reformulation of a more directly state-run retail model first put forth by Sununu, though the governor has said he\u2019ll also support a franchise model. It\u2019s an approach that was first raised last year by a state commission on legalization that\u00a0ultimately failed at its assignment to develop a legislative proposal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

New Hampshire lawmakers worked extensively on marijuana reform issues last session and attempted to reach a compromise to enact legalization through a multi-tiered system that would include state-controlled shops, dual licensing for existing medical cannabis dispensaries and businesses privately licensed to individuals by state agencies. The legislature ultimately\u00a0hit an impasse on the complex legislation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bicameral lawmakers also convened the state commission tasked with studying legalization and proposing a path forward last year, though the group\u00a0ultimately failed to arrive at a consensus or propose final legislation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Senate\u00a0defeated a more conventional House-passed legalization bill last year, HB 639, despite its bipartisan support<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Last May, the House defeated marijuana legalization language that was included in a Medicaid expansion bill. The Senate also moved to table another piece of legislation that month that would have allowed patients and designated caregivers to cultivate up to three mature plants, three immature plants and 12 seedlings for personal therapeutic use.<\/p>\n

After the Senate rejected the reform bills in 2022, the House included legalization language as an amendment to separate criminal justice-related legislation\u2014but\u00a0that was also struck down in the opposite chamber<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This story has been updated to correct the description of the Senate-amended bill\u2019s proposed penalties related to consuming cannabis in a vehicle. A second offense within five years would be eligible for a misdemeanor charge, not a first violation.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

South African President Signs Marijuana Legalization Bill Into Law<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis \/\/ Side Pocket Images.<\/em><\/p>\n

The post Advocates Divided On New Hampshire Marijuana Legalization Bill As Senate-Amended Measure Gets Final House Vote On Thursday<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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Marijuana reform advocates in New Hampshire are at odds over how they want lawmakers to proceed with a Senate-amended legalization bill that will return the House for a final vote this week. Representatives can choose to accept the Senate amendments\u2014which would advance the measure to Gov. Chris Sununu (R)\u2014vote downContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75725"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75725"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75726,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75725\/revisions\/75726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}