At our Cannaversary event on August 10, we presented “Therapeutic Cannabis Champions” awards to three outstanding state representatives. We are very grateful to Rep. Wendy Thomas, Rep. Heath Howard, and Rep. Suzanne Vail (left to right in the photo above) for all their efforts to support patients and improve the therapeutic cannabis law!
Here’s more information on these awesome, award-winning legislators:
Rep. Wendy Thomas
Rep. Thomas represents the town of Merrimack, and she has championed several therapeutic cannabis bills during her tenure in the House. She is a mother of 6 grown children, a cancer survivor, and a registered therapeutic cannabis patient. This year, she served as lead sponsor for the following bills:
- HB 1231 (killed by the Senate) would have legalized home cultivation for registered patients and caregivers.
- HB 1278 (signed by the governor) will give New Hampshire medical providers more flexibility to certify adult (21+) patients for the Therapeutic Cannabis Program. This new law will allow certifications for “any debilitating condition or symptom,” and it will take effect on October 1.
- To certify a patient under the new law, a N.H. medical provider will have to “attest to their clinical opinion” that the potential benefits would likely outweigh the risks for that patient.
- The new law will also eliminate a barrier to access for patients who are visiting from another state or Canada. Currently, visiting patients may only purchase from a N.H. dispensary three times in a year unless they provide documentation that their medical condition would qualify under N.H. law. This “three visit rule” will be eliminated when the law takes effect on October 1.
Rep. Thomas also cosponsored other therapeutic cannabis bills, and overall she did a wonderful job helping her legislative colleagues understand the needs and perspectives of patients. We greatly appreciate all her efforts!
Here’s Rep. Thomas asking a question during a tour of our production facility earlier this year:
Rep. Heath Howard
Rep. Howard is a first-term legislator representing the towns of Barrington and Strafford. He is also a registered therapeutic cannabis patient and a persuasive advocate for sensible cannabis policy reforms. Rep. Howard scored a big victory this year with HB 1349, which will add generalized anxiety disorder as a qualifying condition, effective September 10. He also sponsored and cosponsored other therapeutic cannabis bills.
We greatly appreciated Rep. Howard (on the left) visiting our production facility earlier this year to learn more about how we cultivate cannabis!
Rep. Suzanne Vail
Rep. Vail represents Nashua’s Ward 3 in the House. Like Rep. Thomas, she is a registered patient and has been an awesome champion for therapeutic cannabis throughout multiple terms in the legislature. We greatly appreciate her persistent efforts to educate legislators about the value of our program.
This year, Rep. Vail served as lead sponsor of these bills, one of which still has a chance to become law:
- HB 1581 (vetoed by governor, override pending) would allow ATCs to operate a second cultivation location, which could be a greenhouse.
- HB 82 (killed by Senate) would have established employment protections for registered patients, prohibiting employers from firing a patient solely on the basis of a positive drug test.
Here’s Rep. Vail inspecting a cannabis plant during a tour of our production facility:
Other Acknowledgements
Bills don’t become law without a lot of effort and support by members of key committees and other legislators. The therapeutic cannabis bills that passed this year received overwhelming bipartisan support from the members of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, including from senators who oppose legalization. We appreciate those senators’ willingness to gradually expand our program now that they’ve seen it helps patients and does not cause problems.
On the House side, therapeutic cannabis bills were handled very professionally this year by the House Health, Human Services, and Elderly Affairs Committee. We owe a particular debt of gratitude to the vice-chair of that committee, Rep. Erica Layon, who worked to ensure that therapeutic cannabis bills received diligent consideration and bipartisan support.
This was a challenging legislative session in some other committees, but these two health-focused committees did great work on therapeutic cannabis policy in 2024. Along with our three “therapeutic cannabis champions,” the legislators on these committees deserve our heartfelt thanks!
