NH bill expands medical marijuana; Sununu vetoes cannabis funds

Ethan DeWitt
| New Hampshire Newsletter

Governor Chris Sununu signed a bill that would expand the reach of therapeutic cannabis in New Hampshire, but vetoed another bill.

As part of a package of legislation on July 12, Sununu signed House Bill 1349, which will add generalized anxiety disorder to the list of qualifying conditions for therapeutic cannabis. The bill, which goes into effect on Sept. 10, will allow people with generalized anxiety disorder, whose condition has been certified by a medical professional, to obtain a cannabis registration ID and purchase cannabis at one of the state’s nonprofit alternative treatment centers.

Proponents said it could help people with post-traumatic stress disorder and offer others with anxiety disorders an alternative to pharmaceutical drug treatment.

The governor has vetoed House Bill 1581, which would have allowed the state’s alternative treatment centers to build greenhouses on their growing sites if the Department of Health and Human Services approved it.

Supporters said the bill would allow the state’s ATCs, which produce and sell marijuana products for therapeutic cannabis patients, to grow cannabis more efficiently, saving on energy costs. But in his veto message, Sununu responded that there were not enough safeguards built into the bill detailing how the greenhouses would be secured.

“The legislation is sparse in detail regarding safety, security and location requirements,” the governor wrote. “Those details are necessary to ensure appropriate controls for a controlled substance.”

The veto comes a month after lawmakers defeated a cannabis legalization bill that Sununu championed after some House members objected to the state having control over sales.

This story was originally published by the New Hampshire Newsletter.