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Law New Hampshire

"state run market", eh. Well, that certainly will optimize responsiveness and efficiency......LOL

Shakespeare was close....while lawyers are a good target, politicians should come first.

New Hampshire Senate Tables Marijuana Legalization Bill As New Compromise Emerges In House


The New Hampshire Senate has set aside another House-passed marijuana legalization bill, as the governor predicts that a separate plan to create a state-run cannabis market that he now supports will likely be considered by lawmakers “next year.”

Meanwhile, however, House lawmakers are now discussing pursuing compromise legislation next week that could be attached to an unrelated Senate bill that would provide for a combination of state-operated and privately licensed cannabis shops while also allowing current medical cannabis dispensaries to serve the adult-use market.

It’s not clear if the Senate would go along with the alternative proposal, which is slated for House committee consideration in the coming days—but senators on Thursday tabled the separate non-commercial legalization measure from Kevin Verville (R) in a 24-0 vote. The chamber also set aside a separate bill to allow medical marijuana patients to grow their own plants, voting 16-8 to table that measure as well.

Tabling a bill doesn’t mean the measures are dead. Senators are able to take them back up if they wish, but if they don’t act by the end of the session, at that point the legislation will be defeated.

These latest votes come one week after the Senate voted against a more conventional legalization bill from bipartisan House leadership that advocates had preferred.
After Gov. Chris Sununu (R) came out in support of legalizing cannabis through state-operated stores last week, there were some like House Majority Leader Jason Osborne (R) who suggested that the non-commercial marijuana bill could be amended on the Senate floor and used as a vehicle for that reform.

Others were skeptical, arguing that it would be more realistic to take the state-run reform idea back up in 2024. Senate President Jeb Bradley (R), who broadly opposes legalization, said last week that “it’s much better to come back with a piece of legislation next year—for proponents to do that—and to vet it properly with public hearings, work the process.”

The governor told InDepthNH that he’s spoken with Bradley about the issue since backing legalization, and he said he also believes “it would come up next year.”
An earlier House-passed bill to legalize through the state model was unanimously defeated in the Senate last year, raising additional questions about the measure’s prospects.

Sen. Tim Lang (R), who is one of three freshmen GOP senators who supported the state-run legalization bill last session while serving in the House, said that he doesn’t think the reform should be advanced “rapidly” and that there are certain issues with the prior state-run measure that “still need to be covered.”

The bill is a “great starting point for us,” he said. “I don’t anticipate we get it done this session, but we will get it done this term.”
But House lawmakers might try to challenge that timeline with their latest attempt at a compromise.
An unrelated bill that’s sitting in the House Commerce Committee that concerns delinquent payments from alcohol licensees could be amended to include a hybridized cannabis legalization proposal.

The amendment from Chairman John Hunt (R), which is set to be discussed in committee on Wednesday, puts state-run stores at the forefront, but regulators would also be able to issue licenses to private individuals to operate shops on a seasonal or annual basis.

Existing medical cannabis dispensaries would be able to receive dual licenses allowing them to serve patients and adult consumers. That was a key component of the House-passed legalization bill that the Senate rejected last week.

The amendment would not permit home cultivation. No tax would be imposed on cannabis products.

Penalties for public smoking would be increased. And it further calls for municipal votes in November 2024 for cities that wish to opt in to allowing “cannabis establishments”—though that definition in the bill doesn’t include retailers.
 

New Hampshire Lawmakers Vote To Expand Medical Marijuana Program With New Conditions And Higher Possession Limits


The medical cannabis expansion legislation comes as lawmakers are also considering broader recreational marijuana legalization.


By Ethan DeWitt, New Hampshire Bulletin


The New Hampshire House approved a group of bills expanding the state’s therapeutic cannabis program Thursday—as lawmakers continue to grapple with whether to legalize marijuana for everyone.


The chamber voted to pass House Bill 1278
1710080040220.png
, a bill to add debilitating or terminal conditions to the list of qualifications for using therapeutic cannabis, also known as medical marijuana. In a separate vote, the House approved House Bill 1349
1710080040247.png
, which allows those with generalized anxiety disorder to be part of the therapeutic cannabis program.


Both bills would require the patient to obtain a recommendation from a medical provider that they be prescribed medical cannabis.


The House also approved a bill to increase the amount of cannabis a medical marijuana patient can possess at one time. House Bill 1350
1710080040274.png
would raise the limit from 2 ounces to 4. Currently, the state’s cannabis decriminalization law allows people to possess up to three-quarters of an ounce.


And the House passed House Bill 1581
1710080040299.png
, which would create an opportunity for the state’s alternative treatment centers to create greenhouses. The centers cultivate and distribute the state’s therapeutic cannabis; the bill would require them to receive permission from the Department of Health and Human Services, which regulates medical marijuana.


The votes came weeks after the House passed a broader bill legalizing the possession and use of cannabis in New Hampshire for all residents over 21 and creating a model to allow commercial sales at state-licensed cannabis stores. That bill is being tinkered with in the House Finance Committee and must pass the whole House by April 11 in order to make it over to the Senate in time for calendar deadlines. It will then face hearings and debate in the Republican-led Senate.
 
"as long as it contained provisions including state control over the market."

Oh yeah....that paragon of efficiency and competence...the state. Beauty, Sununu....you mutt.

New Hampshire GOP Governor Reaffirms He’d Sign Marijuana Legalization Bill With State-Run Model Despite Personal Reservations


The Republican governor of New Hampshire has reaffirmed that he’d sign a bill to legalize marijuana, despite his personal reservations about the policy change, as long as it contained provisions including state control over the market.

Gov. Chris Sununu (R) said during an interview with WMUR that while there may be “some flexibility” with respect to part of his proposal that would ban cannabis businesses from lobbying the legislature, he remains committed to having a state-run model that he says would minimize potential harms.

“I don’t love the idea of legalizing cannabis here. I really don’t,” he said. “But knowing that it is probably inevitable, there’s a responsibility to getting the system right. Other states around us have got their systems very wrong.”

“I think we have an opportunity to really set a model here that works: limited stores, away from kids and schools, controlling the marketing aspects, not letting this free-for-all happen that you see in other states that have just made a mess,” Sununu said. “So if [lawmakers] stay in the guidelines, and they do this—while I don’t love it, boy, we could set ourselves up for a good, long-term sustainable system with minimal impacts to kids, and that’s really what I’m looking for.”

The House did approve a cannabis legalization bill last month, but it proposes a more conventional privately-run marijuana industry. Some senators have already pushed back on the legislation and called for a reform measure that more closely aligns with the governor’s proposal. That House bill also must go to another committee in the chamber, with a hearing scheduled for Wednesday, and then pass again on the floor before potentially being transmitted to the Senate.

Sununu said he’s been “been super clear on what I want to see, so if they put that in the bill, then I’ll sign it.”

“I’m pretty good about sticking to my word,” he said.


Another controversial component of the governor’s plan would bar marijuana retailer franchisees from lobbying lawmakers on the issue. Sununu said that policy is necessary because the businesses would fall under the control of the Liquor Commission, which itself is restricted from engaging in lobbying activity, so it would “keep some symmetry there as best we can.”

“This could be a very powerful lobby,” he said. “You don’t necessarily want that to dictate where this goes.”

However, he said that he’s “willing to take a look at some things,” acknowledging criticism that the policy would infringe upon the First Amendment rights of the businesses.

“That’s why I’m happy to take a look at it. We’re looking at the legality of that, so maybe there’s some flexibility there,” Sununu said
1710174261185.png
. “But ultimately, I just want folks to know that we’re going to maintain this so there’s not some big lobbying power redirecting the entire course of a system that I think, if not controlled, could have some real negative impacts to our kids and communities.”
 

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