Politics
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.”
