New Hampshire House Lawmakers Approve Marijuana Legalization Bill

New Hampshire House lawmakers have given initial approval to a bill that
would legalize marijuana in the state—despite expectations that it’s
destined to stall out in the opposite chamber or otherwise get vetoed by
the governor.

Members of the House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee on Tuesday
voted 10-7 to advance the proposal from Rep. Jared Sullivan (D) on Tuesday.
The vote followed a work session last month at which the panel discussed
the cannabis measure.

Part of those discussions involved acknowledgment by lawmakers that, while the
House has repeatedly passed similar legalization legislation, few
anticipate that it would move in the Senate, assuming the full House
approves this latest iteration. Then there’s also the fact that Gov. Kelly
Ayotte (R) staunchly opposes adult-use legalization.

Nevertheless, the committee passed the bill without further debate.
Sullivan previously said it’s worth the effort, at least to force opponents
to again go on record with their opposition to a policy popular among
voters.

“Most people in this state want it, so our job is to not make the
governor’s reelection campaign easier. If this turns into an issue, that’s
not our job,” he said last month.

Sullivan, who is running for U.S. Senate, said in a recent interview that
he would take the fight for cannabis reform to Capitol Hill if elected.

“The last poll I saw was in April—70 percent of people, including 55
percent of Republicans, want it legal in the state. We need to stop
arresting people for this,” he said. “And if we could get that to happen at
the federal level, all those states are falling in line, and we would stop
arresting people nationwide for something that most people in this state
certainly want to see legal.”

“We need to stop ruining people’s lives because they get arrested and get
charged with felonies for possession of cannabis,” Sullivan said.

Meanwhile, the same committee earlier this month advanced a separate bill
to allow medical marijuana dispensaries in the state to convert from from
non-profit organizations to for-profit businesses.

Part of the motivation behind the legislation is the fact that medical
marijuana dispensaries, called alternative treatment centers (ATCs) under
New Hampshire law, don’t qualify for federal non-profit status. But in the
state, they’re considered non-profit organizations, which has resulted in
disproportionately increased operating costs.


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New Hampshire lawmakers are also gearing up for a busy 2026 session when it
comes to cannabis and psychedelics, filing at least a dozen requests for
legislative staff to draft reform bills they plan to file next year.

Separately, after the House added provisions to a Senate-passed bill that
would allow medical marijuana patients to grow cannabis at home, those
measures were stripped in conference.

The governor also said in August that her position on marijuana
legalization would not change even if the federal government moved forward
with rescheduling the plant—a policy change President Donald Trump is
actively considering.

“If federal law changes, I have to comply with federal law,” Ayotte said.
“But my position has been, and continues to be, that we should not legalize
marijuana in the future.”

The post New Hampshire House Lawmakers Approve Marijuana Legalization Bill
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