WMUR CONCORD, N.H. —
A commission tasked with coming up with legislation to legalize marijuana in New Hampshire wrapped up its work Monday by making no recommendations.
The failure to approve recommendations could keep New Hampshire the only New England state where recreational marijuana remains illegal.
The chairman of the commission came up with the framework for a bill that would allow state-selected franchisees to sell cannabis with a 15% tax on gross sales.
“So, this is a public-private partnership,” said state Sen. Tim Lang, R-Sanbornton. “The state is going to be the regulator and controller, and then the retail side will be a private partnership with another organization.”
Earlier this year, Gov. Chris Sununu endorsed a state-control model for legalization, similar to how the state sells liquor.
“The governor is open to discussing a franchisee-based system, but the success of such a model is in the details,” the governor’s office said in a written statement to News 9. “The governor has been clear that any system meets his outlined framework – or be met with a veto.”
Monday afternoon, the governor’s office went a step further, telling the commission that Sununu will only accept 15 retail storefronts under a franchisee model and asking for a ban on lobbying and political contributions by cannabis licensees.
“At the very last meeting, the last half-hour, now, all of the sudden, we’re considering things that flew in from the governor’s office last-minute?” said state Sen. Becky Whitley, D-Hopkinton. “This is not how we legislate.”
Opponents and skeptics of legalization also pushed to change the mandatory distance from any cannabis retail facility to a school from 200 feet to one mile.
“You have a high school 200 feet away,” said David Mara, the governor’s adviser on addiction and behavioral health. “You walk out the front door, you walk a block, you’re right there. Talk about an enticement.”
As far as where things went sideways this time, many commission members were taken aback by the proposed ban on lobbying and contributions by licensees.
“It’s definitely something of concern, something we haven’t seen before in other aspects of New Hampshire law,” said Frank Knaack, of the ACLU New Hampshire.
Source:
https://www.wmur.com/article/new-hampshire-cannabis-marijuana-commission-112723/45964969
