Tired of waiting on state officials to act, Seattle takes matters into its own hands. Here’s what it takes to get things moving.

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The New Hampshire Senate voted against a bill to legalize recreational pot on Thursday, likely killing the prospects for the adoption of substantive cannabis policy reform this year. The measure, House Bill 629, was rejected by the state Senate with a bipartisan vote of 15-9.

Under the measure, possession of up to three-quarters of an ounce of pot would have been legalized for adults 21 and older. The bill also would have allowed for the possession of some cannabis tinctures and edibles, and home cultivation of up to six cannabis plants by adults would also have been permitted. The legislation did not, however, include provisions for the commercial production and sale of cannabis.

The New Hampshire House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved House Bill 629 earlier this year with a bipartisan vote of 241-113. But the bill was rejected on Thursday by the state Senate over concerns about public safety.

“This is not a harmless substance,” Republican Senator Bob Giuda told colleagues during a debate before Thursday’s vote. “Legalizing this does no good for any segment of our population.”

Broad Support for Recreational Cannabis Legalization

Senators in favor of the bill noted that cannabis policy reform enjoys broad support in New Hampshire. Recent polling from the University of New Hampshire shows that 74% of the state’s residents approve ending the prohibition on cannabis for adults, with more than two-thirds expressing support for legislation that would have authorized sales of legal cannabis by state-run retailers. Democratic Senator Becky Whitley said that the state is falling behind its neighbors on cannabis legalization.

“New Hampshire has become an island in New England, with our overly burdensome regulations of cannabis that are out of sync with what the scientific health and social data says,” Whitley said. “And most importantly, with what New Hampshire voters want.”

Whitley also referred to data released this week by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire that showed that Black residents of New Hampshire are 4.8 times more likely to be arrested for possession than white people. She also noted that the disparity is more pronounced in some areas, saying “13.9 times: That’s the number of times that Black people are more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession when compared to white people in Manchester, despite both groups using marijuana at roughly the same rate.”

Republican Senator Bill Gannon disputed the data offered by Whitley, saying he had read “studies from numerous police departments” that he said showed that people of color are arrested at lower rates than white people. Gannon’s office did not reply to an email from High Times requesting more information on the research cited by the senator.

Gannon also said that lawmakers should not be swayed by the international cannabis reform movement.

“In New Hampshire, we make men and women of granite,” he said, adding “I don’t care what my three neighboring states and Canada do. The majority of the U.S. is still against legalization.”

Earlier on Thursday, the New Hampshire Senate killed a separate bill that would have legalized recreational cannabis possession and sales. Under House Bill 1598, the New Hampshire Liquor Commission would have been given the responsibility “to regulate and administer the cultivation, manufacture, testing, and retail sale of cannabis statewide,” with recreational cannabis sales carried out through the agency’s state-run liquor stores.

The bill was passed by the New Hampshire House of Representatives earlier this month by a vote of 169-156. But with a unanimous vote on April 20, the Senate Ways and Means Committee recommended that the bill be deemed “inexpedient to legislate.” 

Senators followed that recommendation on Thursday by a unanimous voice vote. With both bills killed by the Senate, recreational cannabis legalization efforts in New Hampshire are likely dead until next year.

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The word “marijuana” will be stricken from all legislation in the state of Washington under a bill recently passed by state lawmakers. The measure, House Bill 1210, will replace the term “marijuana” with the word “cannabis” in all state statutes after being signed into law by Democratic Governor Jay Inslee last month. 

Democratic state Representative Melanie Morgan, the sponsor of the legislation, told her colleagues in the House last year that the word “marijuana” has racial undertones that go back nearly a century.

“The term ‘marijuana’ itself is pejorative and racist,” Morgan said. “As recreational marijuana use became more popular, it was negatively associated with Mexican immigrants.”

“Even though it seems simple because it’s just one word, the reality is, we’re healing the wrongs that were committed against Black and Brown people around cannabis,” she added.

Racist Language in Legislation

Morgan said that the word’s racist connotation was initiated by Harry Anslinger, the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, which later became the Drug Enforcement Administration. Anslinger was an instrumental force in the passage of the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, which began the U.S. prohibition of cannabis.

“It was … Anslinger that said, and I quote, ‘Marijuana is the most violent causing drug in the history of mankind. And most marijuana users are Negroes, Hispanic, Caribbean, and entertainers. Their satanic music, jazz, and swing results from marijuana usage,’” Morgan said during a legislative hearing.

State Representative Emily Wicks said the bill can help change how conversations about cannabis are framed.

“Although we call it a technical fix, I think it does a lot to undo, or at least correct in some effort, some of the serious harms around this language,” Wicks said.

Joy Hollingsworth, who owns Hollingsworth Cannabis Company with her family, told KIRO television news that the word “marijuana” is an unwelcome term for many people in communities of color.

“It had been talked about for a long time in our community about how that word demonizes the cannabis plant,” said Hollingsworth, who learned about the negative association of the word from her mother.

“She was the one who educated us on the term and how it was derogatory, and we shouldn’t use it anymore,” Hollingsworth said. “We have a lot of people, especially in the Black community, that went to prison over cannabis for years, that were locked up, separated from their nuclear family, which is huge.”

Hollingsworth said that House Bill 1210 is a step in the right direction. But she would also like to see more action on social equity in cannabis from state lawmakers.

“We’ll take any win, right? But we don’t want to get caught up on the performative equity piece where we’re just talking about words and not actual legislation and policy,” Hollingsworth said.

One possibility would be to invest cannabis taxes in communities disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs.

“We will feel like the industry has paid off when we see those funds get put into college scholarships,” Hollingsworth said. “Maybe a family wanted to buy a home, and they were from the Central District of Seattle, and they wanted to go back there because they were priced out. They could get a loan from those funds. Thinking about creative ways to make impactful scalable solutions in our community is what I’m looking for.” 

Cannabis Industry and Advocates Support Bill

House Bill 1210 was supported by state and national cannabis reform advocacy groups and industry representatives, including the Craft Cannabis Coalition (CCC), a Tacoma-based retail trade group.

“Our association is supportive of social equity in the cannabis industry and strongly recognize the harm the war on drugs caused,” CCC Executive Director Adán Espino Jr. told The Center Square in an email. “We do not feel as strongly about the term ‘marijuana’ as others seem to, but we do appreciate the transition to the term ‘cannabis’ as the industry continues to develop and professionalize. If the term ‘marijuana’ has fallen out of practice, that is just the reality of it.”

Tiffany Watkins, a member of the National Cannabis Industry Association’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee, said that Washington needs to make more substantive efforts at social equity in the cannabis industry.

“While it’s definitely time to steer permanently away from terms based in racism, replacing marijuana with cannabis is merely a drop in the ocean when it comes to correcting the wrong done by the war on drugs,” she said via email. “Much more attention needs to be brought to how a state with over 10 years of legal cannabis operations still has no social equity program in place to acknowledge the barriers to entry for its BIPOC [Black, indigenous, people of color] individuals.”

In 2020, the Washington legislature established the Washington Task Force on Social Equity in Cannabis to develop policies and recommendations to support social equity in the state’s cannabis industry. The panel is currently working on proposals to provide grants to social equity applicants to help fund the launch and licensing of new cannabis businesses. House Bill 1210 goes into effect in June.

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Hawthorne Gardening Company has committed $2.5 million over the next two years through The Hawthorne Social Justice Fund to fund organizations with cannabis social justice missions.

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Hannah buys a house, live performances resume, and David Downs discusses the hottest strains of the hot season.

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