New Hampshire House of Representatives passed bills on Thursday that will reduce the criminal penalties associated with psilocybin use and allow home cultivation of cannabis by registered state medical marijuana users. Now, the bills will be presented to the Senate. It has already rejected most of the drug reform proposals that have been brought before it in this legislative session.
In the evening of Thursday, Senators defeated another reform proposal, voting to put on hold HB 528, from Rep. Kevin Verville. This bill would have criminalized psilocybin by making first-time possession punishable with a fine up to $100.
According to the proposal that was passed by the House of Representatives back in March, an initial psilocybin violation would result in a $100 fine or lower. The second and third offenses of psilocybin would fall under class B misdemeanors. They could be fined up to $1,000 and $500 respectively. However, there is no possibility of prison time. Fourth and subsequent offences would still be felonies.
Following the passage of this bill by the House, an Senate panel added an amendment that would set mandatory minimum penalties for certain drug-related crimes and for drugs distributed to users who die. Verville said to MEDCAN24 he viewed fentanyl as a “fair trade” in order to achieve some penalties reform for psilocybin.
The Senate Committee had recommended that the Senate should pass the bill, but the entire chamber voted to table the legislation on voice vote.
As originally introduced, the legislation would have completely removed penalties around obtaining, purchasing, transporting, possessing or using psilocybin, effectively legalizing it on a noncommercial basis. However a House committee amended the bill before unanimously advancing it in March.
The House passed a separate bill on Thursday that could lead to incremental reforms in psilocybin. Representatives voted 214–167 to approve an amended version of SB 14, bill that, as passed by the Senate, would set mandatory minimum sentences for certain fentanyl offenses.
The bill, as amended last month by the House Committee, would reduce the penalties for possessing up to one ounce of psychedelic. At present, simple possession is a felony.
The measure would not go as far as Verville’s own psilocybin decriminalization bill—which would make a first offense a $100 violation—but it would still end the state’s felony law against simple possession.
Verville, speaking before the bill was voted on, said that the bill had been revised to include “real psychedelic reform” for New Hampshire citizens. He called psychedelics compounds “that help people overcome alcoholism and other addictions, including drug abuse, as well as post-traumatic stresses.” [disorder].”
He continued, “I realize it is not a bill for medical care but we are getting closer.” The felony charges for a simple amount of psilocybin have been dropped.
Verville added that SB 14’s proposed mandatory minimum sentences around fentanyl “are fairly short sentences for felony crimes,” describing the overall bill as “an excellent trade that is for the greater benefit of the citizens of New Hampshire.”
Fentanyl-related penalties include those for manufacturing, transporting, and possessing with the intention to sell. Those who engage in these activities will receive a mandatory 3 1/2-year minimum sentence. Those with 50 grams of fentanyl or greater would be facing at least seven years.
The bill has now been passed by the House of Representatives. It will be sent to the Senate for consideration. Members can accept or reject the proposed amendments. They may also request that a conference group work on a possible compromise.
Verville hoped that the Senate would “concurrence” with the House, and then send the bill on to the Governor.
He wrote to MEDCAN24 in an email: “I am extremely pleased that the NH House adopted compromise language in SB 14 bringing much needed psychedelic penalties reform to New Hampshire, even if it is limited.” I hope the NH Senate agrees with the House and passes this compromise bill.
On Thursday, on a vote by voice, the House also approved an amended version SB 118 that addressed medical marijuana growing at home. It primarily deals in state law as it relates to nursing homes. A House committee amendment, however, added language taken from HB 53 that would have allowed home cultivation by registered state patients.
Before voting on the bill as amended, House members rejected an earlier amendment which would have eliminated the provisions relating to cannabis growing at home. Supporters of the change, which failed on a 103–215 vote—noted that the Senate has so far rejected every marijuana-related reform proposal sent to it by the House this session.
Rep. Gary Daniels, a Republican from California said: “It’s not gone unnoticed” that while the House has approved numerous marijuana bills, they have all been rejected by other bodies. Why would anyone risk a good bill?
Fellow Republican Rep. Brian Seaworth, however, said he wanted “to reaffirm the vote I’ve already taken twice on this language”—once when the House passed HB 53 and again when the body gave initial approval to the current bill.
When HB 53 itself landed in the Senate in April, members were initially split on the proposal, with a first vote coming up 12–12. After a number of short recesses, however, the body voted 16–8 along party lines to table the bill.
Seaworth said that given the closeness of the initial vote, “it actually is not unreasonable to suggest that if we send this language—again, the homegrow language—back over the wall, that they may reconsider their position on it.”
Other people pointed out that some of the key provisions in the bill on nursing homes had been included separately as part of a budget change package for the state.
Rep. Tom Ploszaj told colleagues passing the legislation meant “no existing policy was at risk. The cannabis part is simply a modification of it.”
SB 118 was amended by the House to include the Homegrow Language.
According to the proposed bill, which is similar in nature to HB53, registered state medical marijuana users and their caregivers can grow three mature and three immature cannabis plants as well as twelve seedlings. These patients could possess as much cannabis, up to 8 ounces worth of it.
The state would require that growers keep their plants away from the public eye or unauthorised access. They would also need to report the cultivation to them. Renters could also ban the practice.
This session the Senate has shown a general hostility to reforms in drug policy. While a number of bills have cleared the House of Representatives—including a renewed effort to legalize adult-use marijuana—nearly all have gone on to die in the Senate.
Matt Simon told MEDCAN24 that while the outcomes were “disappointing”, they weren’t unexpected.
Earlier in the year, Simon said it appeared “that a few senators just want to kill every bill that deals with cannabis policy, no matter how modest and non-controversial”—an observation that’s largely held true.
As for broader cannabis legalization, the Senate in early May narrowly voted to table a House-passed marijuana legalization bill, effectively ending this year’s effort to end cannabis prohibition in the “Live Free or Die” state.
The chamber voted 12–10 to table the measure, HB 198, from Rep. Jared Sullivan (D). It had previously passed the House of Representatives in March, but weeks later the Senate Judiciary Committee recommended the proposal be rejected.
If enacted, the bill would have legalized noncommercial possession and use of marijuana among adults 21 and older, permitting adults to have up to two ounces of marijuana flower, 10 grams of concentrate and up to 2,000 milligrams of THC in other cannabis products.
Sullivan’s proposal was a pared-down version of a legalization measure lawmakers nearly passed last year, under then-Gov. Chris Sununu (R), but it did not include that bill’s regulated commercial system—a controversial issue that ultimately derailed the earlier effort.
New Hampshire’s residents are strongly in favor of cannabis legalization, according to a recent state poll. A Granite State Poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire’s States of Opinion Project in late April found that 70 percent of New Hampshire residents support the legalization of cannabis. This includes majorities of Democrats and Republicans, as well as independents.
The report added, “Support of legalization is up slightly compared to June 2024 (65%), but it remains higher than the middle of 2010.” Majorities of Democrats (84%), Independents (72%), as well as Republicans (55%), support the legalization of marijuana for personal consumption.
Last legislative session, New Hampshire lawmakers nearly passed a bill that would have legalized and regulated marijuana for adults—a proposal that then-Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican politician from New Hampshire, had said he would support the measure. Infighting about how to set up the market ultimately led to its demise. House Democrats narrowly voted to table it at the last minute, taking issue with the proposal’s state-controlled franchise model, which would have given the state unprecedented sway over retail stores and consumer prices.
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Kristie Gaianopulos provided the image element.
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