Senate committee votes against Liquor Commission cannabis legalization bill – New Hampshire Bulletin

The Senate Methods and Means Committee beneficial killing a Home invoice to legalize hashish and permit the state to promote it by the Liquor Fee in a unanimous vote Wednesday that bodes poorly for its development on the Senate ground. 

Voting 5-0, the committee beneficial Home Invoice 1598 be deemed “inexpedient to legislate,” a advice that can seem earlier than the total Senate for a vote within the coming weeks.

The invoice would legalize the possession and use of hashish for all residents 21 and older. And it could enable the New Hampshire Liquor Fee “to manage and administer the cultivation, manufacture, testing, and retail sale of hashish statewide” and permit cities and cities to restrict or prohibit the variety of hashish institutions inside their borders. 

Amongst current efforts to legalize hashish within the state, the invoice used a brand new method, making the Liquor Fee the only vendor. Advocates have stated the invoice legalizes the private use of hashish whereas additionally offering a income supply to the state and permitting the state to stop overcommercialization by non-public actors. 

However Wednesday’s committee vote uncovered considerations over the invoice which have come from hashish legalization advocates themselves. 

Sen. Erin Hennessey, a Littleton Republican, pointed to arguments made in opposition to the invoice by these advocates over the state’s central retail position, which trade stakeholders say would create a buying monopoly and put cultivators at an obstacle. And Hennessey raised different considerations, together with potential competitors with present therapeutic hashish organizations, how the income generated can be used, and the shortage of legalization for edibles. 

“I might love to have the ability to repair this invoice, however there’s simply too many questions that we’ve obtained that don’t make it fixable for many who wish to see marijuana legalized within the state,” she stated. 

Sen. Cindy Rosenwald, a Nashua Democrat, agreed. “I’m general involved concerning the Liquor Fee’s capability to tackle one other accountability,” she stated, and pointed to a scarcity of justice and fairness provisions. 

The committee’s dialogue additionally make clear what has been a longstanding, bipartisan skepticism within the state Senate about marijuana legalization over the previous decade, even because the Home has continued to cross the payments on a bipartisan foundation. 

“I’m against marijuana,” stated Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, a Manchester Democrat and a former instructor. “I’ve handled it with college students; I’ve handled it with constituents. It’s an issue. I feel that the scenario is sort of clear: The provision of marijuana on let’s name it the black market is pervasive. It’s all over the place. And we should take care of the ramifications of it.” 

Talking in assist of the invoice, Devon Chaffee, government director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire, admitted it wasn’t the group’s most well-liked method. 

“I’m not going to take a seat right here and inform you that that is the right invoice,” Chaffee stated. “… However what I’ll inform you is that we’re completed ready for the right invoice on this concern.” 

The Home handed a extra fundamental marijuana legalization invoice earlier this yr. Home Invoice 629, which might legalize the use and possession of marijuana and permit residence cultivation of hashish crops, is up for a vote within the full Senate Thursday. That invoice was beneficial “must cross” by the Senate Judiciary Committee, 3-2.