While the cannabis bill passed the House — by voice vote — it did not appear to carry the overwhelming bipartisan support legalization bills have in the past. (Getty Images)
The New Hampshire House once again passed a bill Thursday that would legalize cannabis in the state. But with Gov. Kelly Ayotte staunchly opposed to the idea, even supporters are expressing doubts over its viability.
“We’ve tried 50 different bills over the last few years,” said Rep. Terry Roy, a Deerfield Republican and the chairman of the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, speaking to his colleagues Thursday. “Nothing seems to go through. And let me tell you, this one ain’t going to go through either.”
The bill in question, House Bill 75, does not attempt to create an elaborate structure of taxation, retail authorization, state-led product testing, or enforcement, unlike past efforts. Instead, the bill simply makes cannabis use and possession legal for all people in New Hampshire 21 and older, and removes any existing reference to cannabis from the state’s drug laws.
And while the bill passed the House — by voice vote — it did not appear to carry the overwhelming bipartisan support legalization bills have in the past. The House was more enthusiastic about passing a bill that would annul the criminal records of people convicted of cannabis possession, and one allowing therapeutic patients to grow their own cannabis plants under supervision.
The result comes in the wake of a number of setbacks for legalization, including the dramatic failure to pass a bill last year, and the entry of a new governor who is against the idea.
In 2023, then-Gov. Chris Sununu reversed years of personal opposition and said he might sign a cannabis legalization bill if it included tight state control over marketing and sales. In 2024, Senate lawmakers cobbled together a bill to meet those requirements, only for the usually pro-cannabis House to reject the bill, arguing it included too much government involvement.
Meanwhile, Ayotte ran a campaign focused in part on increased drug enforcement, and stated clearly that she would not support cannabis if elected. She has continued that position in office.
While polling in New Hampshire continues to show high support for legalization, enthusiasm among advocates appears to have dampened. During the House hearing for HB 75, the sponsor, Rep. Kevin Verville, a Deerfield Republican, did not show up. Rep. Jennifer Rhodes, a Winchester Republican, said that helped influence her decision to recommend the bill be killed.
“Because the Governor has publicly stated she had no intentions of making cannabis legal in the State of NH and we were not able to hear the bill’s merits the majority decided to recommend this bill as inexpedient to legislate,” Rhodes wrote in a report to the Legislature ahead of the vote.
To Roy, the likely opposition in the Senate and governor’s office means the House should not pass a simple legalization bill like HB 75, but should move forward with something more thoughtful.
“Let’s do it smart and do something that takes care of children, has guardrails and protections,” he said. “Not just throw it out there. If we’re going to do it, do it right.”
But others, like Rep. Jodi Newell, a Keene Democrat, said House lawmakers should continue to strive to pass the policy.
“We trust our citizens over the age of 21 to consume alcohol responsibly, and rightly so, but somehow we still maintain that our citizens cannot be trusted to consume cannabis responsibly, even as we know that it is virtually impossible to consume a lethal amount,” she said.
While the bill passed the House, it had to clear some hurdles. It was recommended to be killed by the Criminal Justice Committee, 9-7. The House voted to overturn that recommendation, but by a narrower margin than it has in the past, 167-190. The actual vote to pass it was a voice vote and the number of supporters is not known.
In recent years, the chamber has occasionally passed cannabis legalization bills by wide enough margins to override a gubernatorial veto. Lawmakers did not do so Thursday.
The bill heads next to the Senate, with 16 Republicans and 8 Democrats. It is not clear how that body might vote, but in the past, legalization bills have been struck down with bipartisan majorities there.
The House did advance two cannabis-related bills Thursday with more support.
House Bill 196 would provide for the annulments. It would allow anyone convicted prior to Jan. 1, 2025, for cannabis-related misdemeanor or violations to request the Department of Safety to review their record and annul it, or to go through a court.
And House Bill 53 would allow for approved medical marijuana patients and caregivers to grow up to three mature cannabis plants, three “immature” cannabis plants – one that has not flowered – and 12 seedlings at a “cultivation location” that is locked and secured by one of the state’s alternative treatment centers.
Previous attempts to legalize the growth of therapeutic cannabis at home have been killed by the Senate.
HB 196 passed the House by unanimous voice vote; HB 53 passed 328-42.