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New Hampshire’s latest cannabis legalization effort is moving toward familiar territory: approved by the House but with uncertain chances in the Senate.
That crossover has historically been perilous; the Senate has consistently voted down cannabis legalization efforts. This time, supporters feel that they may have critical momentum, after Gov. Chris Sununu said for the first time last May that he would be open to signing a bill that followed certain conditions.
But the latest version of the bill – which uses a model that would authorize 15 retail locations run by the state’s Liquor Commission – has also sparked criticism from some who support legalization but want a less-regulated model, complicating its potential passage.
“That is not a free market, nor is that a good way to legalize,” said Rep. Jonah Wheeler, a first-term Peterborough Democrat, speaking on the House floor Thursday.
This year’s legislation, House Bill 1633, would broadly legalize cannabis, allowing anyone 21 and older to possess and consume it. It would also require that anyone seeking to legally buy it in New Hampshire to do so at one of 15 locations authorized and franchised by the state Liquor Commission, which would control how it is tested and marketed. Under that model – the first of its kind to be proposed by a state – 10 percent of sales would go toward the state.
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