States that have both a medical marijuana law and have removed jail time for possessing small amounts of marijuana
Updates
Last update: August 19, 2024
House kills legalization, MPP releases voter guide
New Hampshire is the only state in New England that hasn’t legalized cannabis for adults. Despite legalization passing both the House and Senate in 2024 — and having the governor’s support — it did not make it past the finish line.
This year’s elections will be key to whether New Hampshire finally lives up to its “Live Free or Die” motto. To help inform voters, MPP has created this primary voting guide based on incumbents’ records, public stances, and responses to questions we asked of candidates.
New Hampshire’s state primary day is September 10.
While only three Senate seats have primaries, candidates’ positions on legalization vary considerably. In Senate District 23’s Republican primary, prohibitionist Sen. Bill Gannon is being challenged by a state rep. who voted for cannabis legalization in April — Rep. Emily Phillips.
Both leading Democratic candidates for governor expressed support for legalization and regulation, while both leading Republican candidates have been staunchly opposed.
Check out our full voter guide at mpp.org/NHVoterGuide to learn more about where your candidates stand. Then, be sure to subscribe to our email alerts to catch our General Election guide and cannabis policy updates.
N.H. House kills legalization, potentially delaying it for years
New Hampshire is the only state in New England that hasn't legalized cannabis for adults. While the House of Representatives has been passing legalization for years, 2024 marked the first time the Senate passed a legalization bill. 2024 was also the first time New Hampshire’s governor was willing to sign a legalization bill into law — if it met his parameters.
On April 11, 2024, the New Hampshire House of Representatives passed Rep. Erica Layon’s legalization bill — HB 1633 — in a landslide 239-136 vote. In May, the Senate revised HB 1633 to avoid Gov. Sununu’s veto and to secure the votes of four Senate Republicans who had voted "no" in 2023. The changes included having the Liquor Commission serve as “franchisor” for privately-owned and operated stores and capping the number of stores at 15.
On May 30, the House rejected the Senate changes and called a committee of conference, which negotiated a compromise that removed criminalization and prioritized ATCs (medical dispensaries). On June 13, the House narrowly voted to table the compromise bill (178-173) on the last day of its 2024 legislative session. A motion was made to remove the bill from the table and give it a debate, but it was defeated 162-189. Only 81 House Democrats voted to allow debate, a 50% drop from the 162 who voted "yes" on HB 1633 on April 11.
As a result of the House’s vote to table HB 1633, New Hampshire remains an island of prohibition despite more than 4:1 support for legalization (65% support and 15% opposition).
New Hampshire made more than 1,000 cannabis possession arrests in 2021 alone. While first- and second-offense possession of small amounts of cannabis carry a civil fine in New Hampshire, cannabis consumers face up to a year in jail if they possess more than ¾ ounce of cannabis or more than 300 milligrams of THC in products. HB 1633 would have legalized up to two ounces and 2,000 milligrams of THC in products starting on January 1, 2026.
While MPP has concerns about the franchise approach, a May 2023 Granite State poll shows voters support state-run stores. And a June 2024 poll found 60% voter support for the tabled bill. MPP was also hopeful HB 1633 could have been revised in 2025 — had it passed — to pivot away from franchises. Gov. Chris Sununu (R) isn't running again, and there is no indication the candidates for governor would insist on franchises. Other states, including Maryland and Utah, revised their medical cannabis laws to abandon approaches that proved unwise due to the many complications with running a federally illegal business.
Getting the next governor to sign legalization from scratch may be a tall order. The candidate who is currently leading in the polls — Kelly Ayotte — opposes legalization, as does the other Republican candidate, Chuck Morse. However, Democratic contenders Joyce Craig and Cinde Warmington are supportive. Regardless of who wins the corner office, any bill would still need to be acceptable to both the Senate and House, which was the stumbling block this year.
Other Cannabis Proposals Meet Mixed Fates
More than a dozen other cannabis policy bills were also considered, both good and bad. Most were sent to interim study or otherwise stalled, but five made it to Gov. Sununu.
Gov. Sununu signed these bills into law:
SB 426, creating an “open container” law for cannabis (MPP opposes this new law).
HB 1278, allowing anyone 21+ to qualify for therapeutic cannabis if they have a debilitating or terminal condition and their practitioner’s certification. (Patients who are 21+ will no longer have to have a listed medical condition.)
SB 357, allowing anyone who is licensed to prescribe drugs to humans to certify patients for therapeutic cannabis
HB 1349, adding generalized anxiety disorder as a qualifying condition for therapeutic cannabis.
Gov. Sununu vetoed a fifth bill, HB 1581, which would allow alternative treatment centers (ATCs) to operate a second cultivation location, which may be a greenhouse.
One of the bills sent to interim study was Rep. Jonah Wheeler's groundbreaking HB 1539, which would "automatically" annul violation and possession-level cannabis offenses, while creating a state-initiated process to consider re-sentencing for all other cannabis offenses. This MPP-supported bill passed the House in a landslide 283-80 vote before the Senate referred it to interim study.
N.H.'s decriminalization and annulment laws
On July 18, 2017, Gov. Chris Sununu signed HB 640, a cannabis decriminalization bill, into law. The law reduced penalties for possessing three-quarters of an ounce or less of cannabis from a criminal misdemeanor to a civil violation punishable only by a fine (a summary of the law is here).
Then, in 2019, Gov. Sununu signed HB 399, which allows people who received misdemeanor convictions for possessing small amounts of cannabis prior to decriminalization to have their records annulled.
MPP advocated for decriminalization in New Hampshire for more than a decade in advance of this victory. However, we know that this progress would not have been possible without the hard work of our many dedicated allies. In particular, we are grateful to attorney Paul Twomey, the ACLU-NH, the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance, and HB 640 sponsor Rep. Renny Cushing (who passed away on March 7, 2022) for their tireless efforts in support of sensible cannabis policy reforms.
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Despite Senate President Jeb Bradley’s opposition to legalization — and his stated preference that legalization die — he did not stack the committee of conference on legalization (HB 1633) with prohibitionists.