New Hampshire’s House Committee has introduced a bill to decriminalize the use of and possession psilocybin.
Members of the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety voted unanimously, 16–0, to pass the bill, HB 528, from Rep. Kevin Verville (R).
The committee amended the original bill before moving it forward. In its original form, the bill would have eliminated all penalties related to obtaining, acquiring, transporting psilocybin or possessing it, and effectively legalized it for noncommercial use.
Although the amended legislation has penalties in place, they are significantly less severe than the current state felony level prohibition.
According to the amendment, first-time psilocybin offenders would receive a $100 fine or less. A second or third offense would fall under class B misdemeanors with fines as high as $500, and up to $1,000. However, there is no jail sentence.
The fourth and subsequent offences would be considered felonies.
The proposal’s language does not specify a limit on the quantity of psilocybin that a person can possess.
Rep. Terry Roy, the chair of the committee, said that he opposed full legalization but believed psilocybin had medical value. He believes it should not be treated as a crime.
“I would like it to be done in a proper scientific way, with university studies and other means.” [Department of Veterans Affairs]Roy explained. But having said that I do support the bill to lower it from a felon. There is no need for more people to be intoxicated, and we don’t also need any more felons.
Action on the bill follows a committee hearing last month at which a member of the panel, Rep. Kathleen Paquette (R), discussed her lifelong struggle with intractable pain from cluster headaches—a condition the psychedelic is known to treat.
Trigeminal Cephalalgia is a painful condition with a long-term, chronic nature. It’s also called cluster headache. “They’re known as cluster headaches, because they cycle and occur in clusters,” the woman told her co-workers at this meeting. When I am in a cycle I experience unbearable pains behind my eyes. The pain is so intense that I cry and pace, and sometimes I end up rolling on the ground, sobbing and clutching my face. I have a runny nose, my eye is swollen and sometimes vomit.
Psilocybin “is believed to help people such as me by possibly interrupting and preventing migraine cycles,” continued she. The drug is said to alter the perception of pain, reduce brain inflammation and reset the neural paths that break these cycles.
David Meuse, a Democrat from California, referred to Paquette’s revelation in his most recent hearing held on Friday.
The testimony of one of the colleagues was “very compelling,” said the man, “and that I believe really, truly helped.”
Meuse commented that the new version of HB-528 was more similar to cannabis in terms of penalties, rather than fentanyl. This, he said, is a great thing considering the benefits of fentanyl. It also allows us to evaluate and determine the therapeutic potential of this drug, as well as wait until studies are released before making any further decisions.
Rep. Alissandra Murray said the previous hearing of the committee had made it clear that this drug was not only safe, but also beneficial to the body. However, people can’t take advantage of these benefits because the Controlled Drug Act prohibits its use.
Murray said that while a complete removal of the law might be too much for this legislative body to do at this time, “I believe this compromise is an excellent place to begin.” The people should be able treat themselves if needed and will not have to worry about committing a crime.
Despite the unanimous vote to advance the measure, Vice Chair Rep. Jennifer Rhodes (R) said she was hesitant to endorse the proposal too broadly.
“I just have to say for the record that all this conversation about this being medicine, that’s almost make me want to say ‘no,'” Rhodes said. I am not a physician. I don’t know that any of us in here are…If we’re doing this because we’re taking away the penalty, that’s one thing, but doing it because we’re trying to say that we’re making it be medicine, that’s the part that I’m not OK with.”
At the hearing last month, one committee member asked sponsor Verville why he chose to focus the bill on only psilocybin rather than put forward legislation to more broadly legalize the therapeutic use of multiple psychedelics, as the lawmaker has done in the past.
Verville told the press at that time that he was “smart enough” to understand that broader reforms were “a huge bite.” I also received a great deal of feedback, from those who sympathized but weren’t in favour. This year I’ve reduced this issue to psilocybin.
“I wish for a world where medical psychedelics are available.” “I dream of this day,” said he. “There are demonstrated medical benefits with depression, post-traumatic stress syndrome—interestingly enough, addiction. So, psychedelics have a high success rate in curing addiction.
However, this bill represents “a conversation” as well as the “beginning of a real, honest debate.”
Verville said to MEDCAN24 that he was “very happy and proud” about the committee’s decision “to pass this common sense legislation in order to stop criminalizing users of psilocybin.”
The next step is to move HB 528 up the House calendar.
Two cannabis-related bills were approved by the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee earlier in this week.
One—HB 198, from Rep. Jared Sullivan (D)—would take a simple, unregulated approach to marijuana legalization. The measure, which if passed, allows adults over 21 to own up to two ounces (or 10 grams) of marijuana flower or concentrate.
Under the proposed plan, home-grown marijuana and retail sales of marijuana will remain illegal. Under the plan, marijuana consumption on public property would be banned.
Another bill—HB 190, from Rep. Heath Howard (D)—would increase the possession limit of medical marijuana by patients and caregivers, raising it to four ounces from the current two. Two ounces would still be allowed for patients to purchase medical marijuana during a 10-day period.
And late last month, the full House of Representatives both passed a simple bill to legalize marijuana for adults and also approved measures that would annul certain criminal records around cannabis and allow medical marijuana patients to grow the plant at home.
Verville also proposed a legalization bill that would eliminate state sanctions for adult cannabis users over the age of 21. It would, however, not create a commercial licensed market nor a more comprehensive regulatory system.
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There are no restrictions on the possession of marijuana or its cultivation. The proposal would exempt marijuana, despite the lack of any regulatory framework for commercial businesses. It also does not include any laws that prohibit illicit drug sales. The state-registered caregivers or patients could lose their registration cards for selling marijuana outside of the medical system.
The bill would still prohibit minors from using marijuana. If found in possession or use of the substance by a person under 21, they would be charged with a crime. Anyone under 18 years old would also be sent for a substance abuse disorder screening. In addition, adults who smoke marijuana in public places would be guilty of violating the law.
New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte (R) is widely thought to be opposed to any adult-use legalization bill that reaches her desk this session. Kelly Ayotte would, however, oppose adult-use legislation that might reach her desk during this legislative session. A former U.S. senator and state attorney general, Ayotte said repeatedly on the campaign trail last year that she would oppose efforts at adult-use legalization.
New Hampshire lawmakers nearly passed legislation last session that would have legalized and regulated marijuana for adults—a proposal that then-Gov. Chris Sununu had stated that he supported the idea. 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.
A poll from last June found that almost two thirds (65 percent) of New Hampshire residents supported legalizing marijuana. A similar number of New Hampshire residents (61%) also said that time they supported the failed marijuana legalization bill HB 1633.
Please read below the entire amendment to HB 528.
Findings from a poll of Canadians show that Justin Trudeau’s greatest accomplishment was legalizing marijuana.
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