This week, the New Hampshire House of Representatives approved a bill that would legalize marijuana for adult use in the state. The bill is nearly identical to a bill passed by the New Hampshire Senate back in February. The two bills will almost certainly fail because the Governor is a staunch cannabis prohibitionist.
New Hampshire Bulletin said that the House approved House Bill 75 on a vote of voice approval a few weeks ago. Marijuana Moment reports that this week House members voted 208 to 125 to pass House Bill 198. This is a proposal which has striking similarities to HB75, as neither bill would allow recreational production or sales, only possession and personal consumption.
These two measures are now before the Senate of New York, where they will be likely to face a veto by Governor Cuomo. Kelly Ayotte was a staunch opponent of cannabis who promised on the campaign trail that she would not allow adult-use pot to be legalized. It’s not lost on the lawmakers who voted for legalization.
The Bulletin reported that in February Rep. Terry Roy (the Republican Chairman of the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee) said, “We have tried fifty different bills during the past few years.”
“Nothing appears to pass.” Roy, in reference to HB75, predicted that “this one isn’t going through, either.”
New Hampshire, the only New England State that does not legalize marijuana in its entirety, has a small medical cannabis program.
Marijuana Moment also reported that this past week, the House passed bills that legalized personal possession and usage of psilocybin as well as increased possession limits for registered patients who use medical marijuana.
Like recreational cannabis, the psilocybin measures would allow only personal consumption and possession, but not commercial production.
Marijuana Moment said that under the expansion of medical marijuana, patients would be allowed to possess and purchase up to 4 ounces at one time. This is double what they can do now, Marijuana Moment stated.