New Hampshire Senate approves recreational cannabis, but big hurdles remain

Although the New Hampshire state Senate last week approved a bill to legalize marijuana – a first for the state’s upper chamber – it doesn’t appear likely to be signed into law, given opposition from both the governor’s office and the state House of Representatives.

For the measure to succeed, it would likely first have to be reconciled with an earlier version approved by the state House of Representatives, before a final version is sent to Gov. Chris Sununu for his signature, Forbes reported. A key difference between the two bills is the possible government control of dispensaries – as opposed to private enterprise, as allowed by most states.

“It’s a model which ensures that the retail sales are ultimately controlled by the state,” Sununu summarized of the Senate’s bill, while not committing to signing it into law.

The Senate version of the legalization bill would allow the New Hampshire government to open 15 recreational cannabis shops under a “franchise model,” the New Hampshire Bulletin reported, which gives private businesses the ability to purchase up to three of the franchise licenses. But each of those would be subject to hefty state taxes and fees – including having to remit 15% of profits back to the state – as well as government say-so over much of dispensary layout. Critics in the House said such an approach would drive away entrepreneurs and also undercut the existing medical marijuana market.

The House bill, by contrast, would permit private industry to run the proposed 15 marijuana shops with oversight from state regulators, a much more common setup across the U.S., and set lower tax rates. There are also a series of other policy changes that, taken together, aren’t politically palatable to House cannabis champions.

A key House Democrat, bill sponsor Rep. Anita Burroughs, told the Bulletin she believes the Senate version won’t be able to get enough support to pass the state’s lower chamber, given the policy differences. She called it “a bridge too far.”

New Hampshire is the only state in New England to not have legalized recreational cannabis to date.