House Prohibitionists Will Try To Block Marijuana Bill

CONCORD, NH — On Jan. 9, 2018, the New Hampshire House passed a marijuana legalization bill, HB 656, in an overwhelming 207-139 vote. The bill should have advanced directly to the Senate, but instead it was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee — a panel that is usually limited to considering taxes and other forms of state revenue. At first, this appeared to be a simple mistake. HB 656, as introduced, had included taxes and regulations that would have been the purview of the Ways and Means Committee. However, the bill was amended on the House floor to remove those provisions, leaving in its place a very simple bill that would merely eliminate penalties for limited marijuana possession and cultivation by adults 21 and older.

A public committee hearing was scheduled for Feb. 13. But what would the committee even talk about, given that the bill no longer included taxes and regulations?

I reached out to the chair and vice-chair of the committee in advance of the hearing to inquire, and I was told, “we’re limiting it to revenue.” Accordingly, I advised supporters of legalization on social media that this hearing would not be the time or place to make general arguments in favor of ending marijuana prohibition.

At the hearing, the chairman, Rep. Norm Major, explained that the policy decision to legalize marijuana for adults had already been decided by the full House. He repeatedly instructed witnesses to limit their testimony to revenue considerations, specifically identifying two fines in the bill and saying those were the only parts of the bill that he thought the committee should be talking about.

The bill does include two new fines: a $100 fine for smoking in public and a fine of not more than $750 for failing to comply with cultivation restrictions. These could be construed as revenue sources, but the intent of these fines plainly isn’t to produce revenue, so their relevance to the Ways and Means Committee is dubious at best.

It’s also worth noting that marijuana decriminalization bills, which imposed fines for possession, passed the House eight times between 2008 and 2017 but were never, at any time, sent to the Ways and Means Committee for review.

Regardless, almost none of the people who testified in the committee even mentioned these two fines. Instead, one prohibitionist after another stepped up to deliver alarmist testimony against the bill, ignoring directives from the chair that they limit their comments to revenue.

As a result, what should have been a short hearing ended up lasting an hour and a half, and committee members heard from numerous people — including a group of well-rehearsed children from a school program (you can see some of them below) — that terrible, costly outcomes will result from legalization.

Photo by Matt Simon

Since the conclusion of the hearing, the opponents of HB 656 have made their intentions clear. Ways and Means Vice-Chair Rep. Patrick Abrami, who also chairs the state’s marijuana legalization study commission, recently indicated that he will push for a motion of “interim study.”

The people of New Hampshire disagree with Rep. Abrami’s intention by a more than two-to-one margin. On Feb. 27, the Granite State Poll, published by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, released numbers showing 56% support for HB 656 and only 25% opposition.

Rep. Abrami should take note: this isn’t two-to-one support for studying marijuana legalization — it’s support for passing HB 656.

Question: “The New Hampshire legislature is considering a bill that would make it legal for adults to possess up to three-quarters of an ounce of marijuana and allow adults to grow up to six marijuana plants in their home, but would not legalize or tax the sale of marijuana. Would you support or oppose this legislation or don't you know enough about this to say?” Source: https://cola.unh.edu/sites/col...

To be clear, I believe Rep. Abrami’s study commission has been doing valuable work. I have publicly applauded Rep. Abrami and the commission for taking time to consider testimony from credible experts, including legislators and regulators from states that have pioneered legalization and regulation. I am sure that the commission’s upcoming recommendations on how New Hampshire might regulate and tax cannabis will be viewed with considerable interest by policymakers and advocates alike.

However, the existence of this study commission would be a poor reason for legislators to oppose the simple reform that is proposed in HB 656. Marijuana has already been legalized for adults 21 and older to grow and possess in all three neighboring states, and it’s time for the same thing to happen in New Hampshire.

Should the “Live Free or Die” State stop punishing adults who choose to use cannabis or grow a small number of plants? It’s a simple question, and the House has already answered it, resoundingly, in the affirmative.

So what is this bill still doing in the Ways and Means Committee?

Perhaps we will get some answers when the committee holds a “work session” on Thursday at 1 p.m. in Legislative Office Building Room 202.