New Hampshire consumers 21 and older drew one step closer Wednesday to being able to purchase marijuana for recreational use from state-run stores, with much of the profits applied toward state education-related property taxes.
The N.H. House, meeting at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Manchester, voted 235-119 to support House Bill 1598.
The first $25 million in net revenue from marijuana sales would be used for substance-abuse treatment and prevention. Ninety percent of subsequent revenue would go toward offsetting local property taxes used to fund public schools.
Speaking in favor of the bill, Rep. Casey Conley, D-Dover, said that under the measure the state would earn revenue the same way that it does from liquor sales — by purchasing the product wholesale and selling it retail. No taxes would be placed on cannabis.
“Tax relief, education funding, substance-abuse treatment, these are concepts just about everybody in our state can get behind,” said Conley, a co-sponsor of the bill.
The N.H. Liquor Commission would have regulatory oversight over cannabis.
“That agency already has ample experience regulating controlled substances and keeping them away from children,” Conley said. “The agency is also pretty good at doing business.”
Private individuals and groups would be licensed by the state to grow, manufacture and test cannabis products. It would be illegal to smoke marijuana in a vehicle or drive under the influence of the drug. It would also be illegal to transfer it to minors.
Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont and Connecticut, as well as 14 other states, two territories and the District of Columbia, have already enacted legislation allowing cannabis to be sold for non-medical use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Medicinal marijuana is legal in New Hampshire, but recreational use is not.
Rep. Scott Wallace, R-Danville, wrote a statement on behalf of the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, which voted 17-4 in favor of a recommendation that it should be approved.
“Unlike previous recreational cannabis proposals that would have created a transfer tax and retail sales tax, this bill as amended allows consumers to purchase a clean, superior, tax-free product at a consumer-friendly price that is competitive with the black market,” he said.
“Communities will benefit from the model provided for in this bill as amended because, like our state liquor stores, cannabis retail stores will be located strategically throughout the state to generate revenue while not flooding our state with hundreds of cannabis retail stores.”
The bill will now go to the House Finance Committee to consider financial elements of the legislation. The measure would then go to the N.H. Senate for consideration.
Rick Green can be reached at RGreen@KeeneSentinel.com or 603-355-8567 These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.