A bill to legalize the possession and sale of marijuana to adults over 21 easily cleared the House, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported. Supporters celebrated a 72% supermajority, larger than past versions that passed the chamber.
The 272-109 vote sends the measure over to a state Senate that traditionally has been the dumping ground for similar campaigns over the past decade.
the New Hampshire Union Leader
The measure was a bipartisan effort from the top, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader.
House Majority Leader Jason Osborne, R-Auburn, and Democratic leader Matt Wilhelm of Manchester jointly sponsored the bill ( HB 639 ) and made numerous changes to it in hopes of finding the right language the Senate could accept.
the New Hampshire Union Leader
Backing for the bill spanned the ideological spectrum, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported.
A broad coalition ranging from the liberal American Civil Liberties Union to the fiscally conservative Americans for Prosperity has gotten behind the bill.
the New Hampshire Union Leader
Sen. Keith Murphy, a former House member, urged his colleagues to support the bill, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported.
“Prohibition has proven over and over to be a failed public policy,”
the New Hampshire Union Leader
As amended, the bill would impose a 12.5% tax on the cultivator or manufacturer of marijuana sold in the state and give the State Liquor Commission $15 million in the first two years to enforce legal sales and monitor how cannabis is cultivated and sold, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader.
New Hampshire remained the only New England state where adult possession of cannabis was still illegal, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported, with patients holding an eligible medical condition able to buy it to treat chronic pain. The vote sent the measure to a Senate that had traditionally been the graveyard for similar campaigns, and Gov. Chris Sununu had yet to embrace it as the state faced a surge in overdose deaths tied to opioid abuse. Senate President Jeb Bradley said he opposed the bill, along with the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police.
Sen. Keith Murphy added that prohibition made little sense given the policies of neighboring states. He argued the enforcement costs outweighed any benefit as New Hampshire stood alone in the region.
“It is especially ineffective when all of our surrounding states have already legalized marijuana possession and use. Investigating and prosecuting cannabis possession is a terrible waste of tax dollars.”
the New Hampshire Union Leader
New Hampshire remained the only New England state where adult possession of cannabis was still illegal, with use limited to patients holding an eligible medical condition. The bill now moved to a Senate that had repeatedly blocked similar measures over the previous decade. Gov. Chris Sununu had withheld his support, questioning the timing amid an opioid crisis, and the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police opposed the bill. Backers cast the strong House vote as a signal that public opinion had moved well ahead of the Legislature’s upper chamber.
Read the full story at the New Hampshire Union Leader.
