It’s been a busy year in Baton Rouge so far! There were over 20 cannabis-related bills introduced this session. We have seen bipartisan support for both improving the medical program and for criminal justice reforms.

Earlier today, the New Hampshire Senate voted down a bill (HB 629) to make it legal for adults who are 21 or older to possess and grow small amounts of cannabis. Only nine of the 24 senators voted for legalization.

Great news! For the first time ever, legalization has passed a New Hampshire Senate committee and is headed to the Senate floor! This morning, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed HB 629 in a 3-2 vote. HB 629 already passed the House and is now headed to the full Senate.

Cannabis legalization is being considered in the Senate this week! Earlier this year, the House passed HB 629 — legislation to legalize possession and limited home cultivation of cannabis for adults 21 and older.

Last week, New Hampshire’s bill to legalize cannabis possession for adults and create a state-run monopoly narrowly passed out of the Ways & Means Committee (12-10). Now, it’s headed to the House floor again. While the committee made some amendments to the bill, it did not address our biggest concerns — HB 1598 would continue to re-criminalize edibles, and it doesn’t even include a Plan B in the likely event that state-run stores fail to get up and running.

The New Hampshire House of Representatives kicked off the new year by narrowly voting down a 2021 bill to legalize cannabis and create a regulated market (HB 237) and then overwhelmingly approving a different bill (HB 629) legalizing home possession and cultivation. HB 629 now heads to the far more challenging Senate.

This morning, New Hampshire’s GOP-controlled House of Representatives voted to legalize possession and home cultivation of cannabis ­— advancing HB 629 in a lopsided 241-113 vote. Unfortunately, it rejected a more comprehensive legalization bill that included sales — HB 237 — in a 163-170 vote last night.

Two legalization bills have been introduced in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, and both have been scheduled for hearings in the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee on Wednesday, January 27, beginning at 11 a.m. The hearings will be conducted via Zoom, which means it will be easier than ever for Granite Staters to support ending cannabis prohibition.