Bipartisan New Hampshire lawmakers are pushing to override Governor Kelly Ayotte’s veto of SB 468, a bill that would allow the state’s medical cannabis companies to cultivate marijuana in greenhouses to reduce costs for patients.
Senator Howard Pearl (R), the bill’s lead sponsor, tells Marijuana Moment: “I disagree with the governor’s decision to veto SB 468. This bipartisan bill would have provided a practical way to lower costs for patients with serious medical conditions while maintaining the rigorous oversight and safeguards that have made New Hampshire’s Therapeutic Cannabis Program successful.” Pearl adds: “At a time when affordability remains a significant challenge for many families, we should be looking for responsible ways to expand access to treatment and ease financial burdens.”
Senator Tara Reardon (D) says she is “disappointed” in the governor’s action, which she says amounts to “denying cost-saving measures for more than 17,000 veterans and patients across New Hampshire who rely on medical cannabis as an important component of their physician-recommended care.” Reardon tells Marijuana Moment she hopes her Senate colleagues will join her in voting to override the veto.
Pearl and Reardon co-authored an op-ed in The Concord Monitor arguing that New Hampshire’s medical cannabis program “is at a disadvantage compared to neighboring states, all of which allow greenhouse cultivation and benefit from lower prices.”
Matt Simon, director of public and government relations at GraniteLeaf Cannabis, tells Marijuana Moment: “Our team is just trying to improve efficiency so we can make therapeutic cannabis more affordable for patients.” In 2024, then-Governor Chris Sununu vetoed a similar greenhouse cultivation bill, and the Senate lacked the votes needed to override that action.
