New Hampshire House Advances Bills To Reduce Psilocybin Penalties And Legalize Medical Marijuana Homegrow By Patients

New Hampshire’s House of Representatives on Thursday approved bills that
would reduce criminal penalties around psilocybin possession and legalize
home cannabis cultivation by state-registered medical marijuana patients.
But the proposals now head to the Senate, which has rejected nearly every
drug reform proposal that’s come before it this session.

On Thursday evening, for example, senators scuttled another reform bill,
voting to table HB 528, from Rep. Kevin Verville (R), which would have
decriminalized psilocybin, making a first possession offense punishable by
a $100 civil fine.

Under that proposal, which had passed the House of Representatives in March,
a first psilocybin offense would be a violation, subject to a fine of $100
or less. Second and third psilocybin offenses would be class B
misdemeanors, carrying fines of up to $500 and $1,000, respectively, but
with no risk of jail time. Fourth and subsequent offenses would remain
classified as felonies.

After its passage by the House, a Senate panel attached an amendment to set
mandatory minimum sentences for certain fentanyl-related offenses and for
distribution of drugs that result in a user’s death. Sponsor Verville told
Marijuana Moment he saw the fentanyl provision as a “fair trade in an
effort to finally get some penalty reform for psilocybin.”

But despite the Senate committee’s earlier ought-to-pass recommendation,
the full chamber tabled the bill on a 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.

A separate measure passed by the House on Thursday could bring about more
incremental psilocybin reform. 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.

As amended by a House committee last month, the bill would also reduce
penalties for psilocybin, making it a misdemeanor to possess up to an ounce
of the psychedelic. Currently simple possession is classified as 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.

“What this bill now has in it is it has real psychedelic reform for the
citizens of New Hampshire,” Verville said of the revised bill prior to the
floor vote, calling psychedelics “compounds that help people beat
alcoholism, opioid addiction, other drug addiction, post-traumatic stress
[disorder].”

“I know it’s not a medical bill, but it gets us a little bit closer,” he
continued. “It finally ends a felony charge for simple possession of a
small amount of psilocybin.”

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.”

The proposed fentanyl penalties would affect manufacturing, selling,
transporting or possession with the intent to sell. Those activities
involving 20 or more grams would carry a 3 1/2 year mandatory minimum
prison sentence, while 50 or more grams would mean at least seven years
behind bars.

With passage by the House of Representatives, the bill now returns to the
Senate, where members can agree to the amendments, reject them or request a
conference committee to work toward a compromise.

Verville said he’s hoping senators “concur with the House and send the bill
off to the Governor.”

“I am very pleased that the NH House passed compromise language in SB 14,
bringing much needed, albeit limited psychedelic penalty reform to New
Hampshire,” he said in an email to Marijuana Moment. “I certainly hope that
the NH Senate will concur with the House position and pass this win-win
compromise bill.”

As for medical marijuana homegrow, the House on Thursday also passed an
amended version of SB 118 on a voice vote. The measure deals primarily with
state law around nursing homes, but a House committee amendment previously
added language from HB 53, which would allow home cultivation of medical
marijuana by state-registered patients.

Prior to the vote on the amended bill, House lawmakers first rejected an
amendment that would have removed the cannabis homegrow provisions.
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.

“It hasn’t gone unnoticed that while this house has passed numerous
pro-marijuana bills, every one of them have been rejected by the other
body,” said Rep. Gary Daniels (R). “When you have a bill that is good, why
would you take a risk?”

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.”

Others pointed out that the core provisions of the nursing homes bill had
already been included in separate changes to a state budget package.

Rep. Tom Ploszaj (R) told colleagues that meant passing the bill meant that
“no policy is at risk, and the cannabis portion merely modifies the
existing program.”

The House’s inclusion of the homegrow language in SB 118 returns the
question to the Senate.

Under the proposal, which mirrors HB 53, state-registered medical marijuana
patients and caregivers could grow up to three mature cannabis plants and
three immature plants, as well as 12 seedlings. They could also possess up
to eight ounces of usable cannabis from those plants.

Growers would have to keep the plants in secure locations, away from public
view or unauthorized access, and cultivation would need to be reported to
the state. Landlords could also prohibit the activity.

So far this session, the Senate has been broadly hostile to drug reform
proposals. 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.

“These outcomes are disappointing, but unfortunately, they aren’t
surprising,” Matt Simon, director of public and government relations at the
medical marijuana provider GraniteLeaf Cannabis, told Marijuana Moment last
month.

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.

Recent state polling suggests New Hampshire residents strongly favor
cannabis legalization. In late April, a Granite State Poll, from the
University of New Hampshire’s States of Opinion Project, found 70 percent
support for the reform, including majorities of Democrats, Republicans and
independents.

“Support for legalization has increased slightly since June 2024 (65%) and
remains considerably higher than in the mid-2010s,” it added. “Majorities
of Democrats (84%), independents (72%), and Republicans (55%) support
legalizing marijuana for personal use.”

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 (R) had indicated he’d support. But infighting over
how the market would be set up ultimately scuttled that measure. 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.

Federal Judge Allows Lawsuit Seeking Home Psilocybin Care To Proceed,
Rejecting Oregon Officials’ Motion To Dismiss

*Image element courtesy of Kristie Gianopulos.*

The post New Hampshire House Advances Bills To Reduce Psilocybin Penalties
And Legalize Medical Marijuana Homegrow By Patients appeared first on Marijuana
Moment.