Democratic and Republican lawmakers in New Hampshire are gearing up for another effort to legalize marijuana, but the state’s governor doesn’t think they will succeed.

The latest cannabis bill being floated in the New Hampshire legislature has support from members of both parties, and the proposal was considered at a hearing in the state House Commerce Committee on Wednesday, according to New Hampshire Public Radio. 

Republicans have control over the New Hampshire state government, holding majorities in both the state Senate and state House of Representatives. 

The state’s governor, Chris Sununu, is also a Republican. 

As was the case last year, when another marijuana legalization was considered, the proposal has exposed a divide within the New Hampshire GOP. 

While the House of Representatives has “repeatedly backed plans to legalize cannabis,” according to New Hampshire Public Radio, the Republican-led state Senate has not been on board. 

Sununu, meanwhile, represents another obstacle to the bill. 

“I’ve always said now’s not the time. Every state does it very different. I’ve always wanted to see what works and what doesn’t,” Sununu said in a gubernatorial debate last year. “There may be a way to do it but given that we are facing an opioid crisis, given that we still don’t know what works with other states, it could be inevitable, I get it, but you got to be patient about how you do it and the steps that are best for New Hampshire.”

On Wednesday, Sununu’s office was dismissive of the latest legalization’s bill’s prospects.

“It’s failed in the Senate repeatedly, in both Republican-held years and Democrat-held years,” the governor’s office said, as quoted by New Hampshire Public Radio. “With teen drug use and overdoses on the rise, it is not anticipated that the legislature will see this as a time to ignore the data and move it forward.”

Sununu has backed other cannabis-related reforms, however. 

According to the Associated Press, “Sununu signed legislation decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana, expanding access to medical marijuana and creating a system for annulling old convictions for marijuana possession,” but “a bill to legalize recreational use has never reached his desk.”

“Governor Sununu has done more on the issues surrounding marijuana reform than any other governor in New Hampshire history,” Sununu spokesperson Ben Vihstadt told the AP.

The legislation was announced last month by two of the senior members of the state House of Representatives: House Majority Leader Jason Osborne and House Democratic Leader Matt Wilhelm.

“The House has long stood united in finding a pathway to getting this done for Granite Staters,” Osborne said at the time. “With any luck, the Senate will come around to supporting the will of the vast majority of New Hampshire citizens.”

On Wednesday, Osborne stumped for the bill before the House Commerce Committee.

“What you are looking at is a result of a number of months of work by an entire coalition of groups and advocates, everything from the business side to the consumer side, the civil rights side to the economic liberty side, as well as the recovery community and people concerned about child safety,” Osborne said at the hearing, as quoted by the Associated Press. “It’s about time we get something done.”

The Associated Press reports that “a coalition that includes both the ACLU of New Hampshire and the conservative group Americans for Prosperity is backing a bipartisan bill to legalize the drug, regulate and tax retail operations and allow it to be grown at home,” and that most of the revenue generated from marijuana sales “would go toward reducing the state’s pension liability, with some going to substance abuse prevention programs and other groups.”

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A bill that would legalize recreational cannabis in New Hampshire won approval in the state’s House of Representatives in a tough vote last week.

The House voted 169-156 on Thursday to “to approve a bill that would allow for the sale of cannabis at state-run liquor stores,” according to local television station WCAX, which noted that the bill would legalize only cannabis flower and not edibles.

The bill now joins a separate piece of cannabis reform legislation in the state Senate, where the appetite for legalization may not be as great as it is in the House. Republicans control both chambers of the Granite State’s legislature, but as New Hampshire Public Radio noted, no legalization bill has ever passed the state Senate.

Leaders there say that any bid to end pot prohibition in this session will likely face stiff headwinds.

“I think the Senate has always opposed legalizing marijuana and I think that’s still the same right now,” state Senate President Chuck Morse told New Hampshire Public Radio. “I think there is a concept here that people want to try to understand.”

Adding another wrinkle to the political dynamics is the state’s Republican governor, Chris Sununu.

Sununu has expressed his opposition to legalization in the past, but he made comments last month that signaled a possible shift. And last year, Sununu signed a bill that broadened qualifying conditions for medical cannabis treatment in the state.

Addressing the New England Council last month, “Sununu gave an off-the-cuff response to a question where, for the first time publicly, he significantly softened his stance, especially as it relates to a specific bill being debated in the legislature,” the Boston Globe reported.

“I think it’s going to ultimately happen in New Hampshire, it could be inevitable,” Sununu said, as quoted by the Globe, although he insisted he is “not pro-legalization.”

And with regard to the bill that passed the New Hampshire state House last week, Sununu said this: “If you are ever going to do it, do that bill. Is now the right time? I am not sure yet.”

But before the bill even makes it to the governor’s desk, it will have to clear the state Senate, where even the top Democrat has some concerns with the legislation.

That lawmaker, state Sen. Donna Soucy, told New Hampshire Public Radio that the bill’s “core concept — allowing the liquor commission to sell marijuana — is a problem.”

“Whether the state should be in the business of marijuana is something a lot of us have hesitancy about,” Soucy said, as quoted by the outlet.

A poll released last month found that a huge majority of New Hampshire voters (68%) support the legalization bill that would authorize the liquor commission to regulate cannabis. 

It isn’t the only cannabis reform bill that will go before the state Senate though. Another proposal that won approval in the state House would legalize home cultivation and personal possession of cannabis, but would not authorize sales.

As detailed in the bill’s analysis, the measure would “[permit] adults to possess up to 3/4 of an ounce of cannabis, 5 grams of hashish, and certain cannabis-infused products; permits adults to cultivate up to 6 cannabis plants at home in a secure location that is not visible from other properties, and to possess and process the cannabis produced from their plants at the same location; permits adults to give cannabis to other adults, provided it is not more than 3/4 of an ounce of cannabis, 5 grams of hashish, or up to 300 mg of cannabis-infused products, or 3 immature plants; provides that smoking or vaporizing cannabis in public by an adult would be punishable by a $100 fine; provides that violations of the restrictions on cultivation would be a violation punishable by fine of up to $750; penalizes dangerous, volatile extraction; and permits adults to possess, make, and sell cannabis accessories to other adults.”

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Seventy-four percent of New Hampshire survey participants share that they support recreational cannabis legalization, and 68 percent approve of a specific cannabis bill that would place the New Hampshire Liquor Commission in charge of regulating sales.

A recent poll was released on February 25 by the Granite State Poll and published by the University of New Hampshire. Among polled topics such as congressional redistricting, yearly car inspections, and the current job performance of Governor Chris Sununu, poll participants were asked their current stance on cannabis legalization. Results reveal that more than two thirds of residents support cannabis legalization bills that are currently being proposed.

Two cannabis-related polls were presented to participants. One explored the opinion of a recently introduced cannabis legalization bill, and the other asked what if the individual approved or opposed legalization overall.

House Bill 1598 was recently approved in the New Hampshire House of Representatives on February 16. Referencing this, Granite State Poll survey asked participants if they want to see recreational cannabis legalization, and require statewide sales regulation to be managed by the New Hampshire Liquor Commission. “More than two-thirds (68 percent) of respondents are strongly (47 percent) or somewhat (21 percent) in support of this bill, 20 percent are somewhat (five percent) or strongly (15 percent) opposed to it, 11 percent are neutral, and two percent are unsure,” the poll states. Furthermore, the political party breakdown shows that 79 percent of Democrats, 68 percent of Independents and 56 percent Republicans are also in favor of this particular bill.

The legalization poll that was presented to determine the participants’ support or opposition of cannabis legalization also revealed strong support. “Support for legalizing marijuana generally in New Hampshire has increased dramatically in the past decade,” the poll stated. “In 2013, Granite Staters were split nearly evenly, with 49 percent in support of legalizing marijuana and 45 percent opposed. Today, nearly three-quarters (74 percent) support legalizing marijuana and only 15 percent are opposed.”

Previously in poll results, the divide between support and opposition was not as wide. The first differing gap is shown as presented sometime between 2014 and 2015, reflecting a 59 percent approval and 34 percent opposition. Between 2015-2016, the results bounced back slightly with 54 percent approval and 37 percent opposition. However, subsequent polls over the last few years show a significant increase in New Hampshire cannabis support and interest.

Data to create this poll was pulled from 1,081 Granite State Panel Members who completed the survey online, which consists of a varied diversity of people of different genders, age ranges, locations political parties and more. Each individual was tasked to answer questions between February 18-22, 2022. Additionally, 7,500 New Hampshire residents who were contacted through randomly-selected landlines or cell phone numbers.

House Bill 1598 was last discussed nearly two weeks ago, which resulted in a floor vote of 235-119. The bill’s sponsor, Representative Daryl Abbas, believes that the bill is “a compromise by many who favor recreational cannabis and many who like me that have traditionally opposed recreational cannabis. [It] creates a policy like no other state that works for and serves the people of New Hampshire,” Abbas said during the floor discussion. “The time for talking is over. It’s time for us together to take action and to deliver this.” The bill will have its next hearing on March 3, and will need to pass through both the House Finance Committee to reach the Senate for further consideration.

While recreational cannabis is still up in the air for New Hampshire, the state’s medical cannabis received an upgrade last year in May 2021 when Governor Sununu passed House Bill 89. Effective as of July 2021, the law allows physicians to authorize patients who suffer from moderate or severe insomnia, as well as those who have autism, to use medical cannabis.

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