This article was updated June 13 at 5:24 p.m. with comment from the ACLU of New Hampshire.
The New Hampshire House of Representatives rejected a marijuana legalization bill Thursday, in a dramatic outcome that exposed deep divisions between the House and Senate.
The chamber rejected the House Bill 1633 compromise with the Senate by a vote of 178-173. The bill would legalize cannabis use for people over the age of 21 starting in 2026 and allow up to 15 supervised retail stores to open. By state.
But legalization advocates in the House opposed the retail approach supported by Gov. Chris Sununu and the Senate, and were frustrated that the Senate continued to pass the bill. The House voted in favor of introducing the bill and then adjourned for the summer, ending any chance of the bill being revived.
The House voted 178-173 to advance the bill, then adjourned for the summer. (Annmarie Timmins | New Hampshire Bulletin)
Frustration was high. “The perplexing thing about the permanence of this bill is that literally no one in this party likes this bill,” Rep. Jared Sullivan, a Bethlehem Democrat, said shortly before the vote.
Sununu favored a franchise model that would allow businesses to buy licenses to operate cannabis dispensaries, but would give the state Liquor Commission top-down control over store layout and advertising.
Sununu said it was important to strengthen state control to establish safety nets for children and the general public. But pro-cannabis members of Congress opposed this, arguing that the franchise model would create a de facto sales monopoly and stifle innovation. They promoted a model that gave retail licensees more control over their stores.
The vote to repeal the bill was a notable political shift for the House. For more than a decade, bipartisan majorities in the House of Representatives have passed marijuana legalization bills, only for bipartisan majorities in the Senate to reject them.
But the dynamic shifted in May 2023 when Sununu, a longtime opponent of legalization, announced he would sign a cannabis legalization bill that met certain precise criteria, including strict state controls. The governor's oath sparked a year-long effort to put together legislation that would make it a reality. But House members pushed back against the governor's retail model, and the two chambers had been at loggerheads for weeks leading up to Thursday.
Last week, members of the House and Senate tried to offer a compromise. The Senate agreed to increase the cannabis industry's representation on the regulatory Cannabis Control Board after House negotiators complained they didn't have a seat at the table.
Negotiators also added a provision that would make it easier for the state's existing alternative treatment centers, which currently dispense medical marijuana, to obtain retail marijuana licenses.
And while full legalization of marijuana would not begin until 2026, a compromise would immediately raise the decriminalization limit, allowing people to possess up to an ounce of marijuana without facing criminal penalties. . Currently, up to three-quarters of an ounce of marijuana is decriminalized in New Hampshire.
The bill's original sponsor, Rep. Erica Rayon, took to the floor to support the compromise. Although the final package wasn't her ideal approach, “we have a chance to get the ball rolling in New Hampshire,” she said.
Rayon argued that because legalization in the final package didn't begin until 2026, lawmakers would have several years to adjust the bill's rollout for future legislation.
But on the House floor Thursday, other legalization supporters said the Senate amended bill is not a start.
For Sullivan, increasing the Liquor Commission's powers is an unacceptable expansion of state government.
“Does anyone here actually believe that after spending millions of dollars, we can involve a newly empowered government bureaucracy? Does anyone really believe that it will be easy to take back power from a government agency?
Other advocacy groups took a different view. The American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire deplored Thursday's House vote, arguing the group threw away an opportunity to pass legalization for all Granite Staters, regardless of the retail model used.
“Delaying legalization for another year means that lawmakers are prepared to ignore the will of their constituents and continue to unnecessarily keep more than 1,000 people (disproportionately Black) in New Hampshire’s criminal justice system each year. “He made it clear he was fine with it,” the ACLU said. Executive Director Devon Chaffee said in a statement after the vote.
She went on to say that “marijuana legalization is not just a political fight over economic gain; the war on marijuana has real-life implications. While politicians debate, the impact of these arrests remains to be seen.” will continue to destroy lives.”
Early Thursday morning, HB1633 passed the Senate 14-10, with Republican Sens. Darryl Abbas (Salem), Dan Inniss (Bradford), Tim Lang (Sanbornton), Keith Murphy (Manchester), and Howard・Pearl (Loudon) joined nine Democrats in supporting the bill. that. Sen. Lou Dallesandro, D-Manchester, joined nine Republicans in opposing it.
On Wednesday, Sununu stopped short of vowing to sign the latest version of the bill, but defended his approach.
“There are billboards all over Massachusetts advertising marijuana and its easy availability,” he told reporters. “There are schools in other states that are directly adjacent, and I think that’s a big issue.
“These are all parts of what we tried to take into consideration when developing the best system not only in the region, but probably in the country.”
Sen. Bill Gannon, R-Sandown, opposes the marijuana legalization bill Thursday, flanked by the bill's sponsors, Sen. Darryl Abbas (R-Salem) and Sen. Debra Altschiller (D-Stratham). gave testimony. (Annmarie Timmins | New Hampshire Bulletin)
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