The first half of New Hampshire’s legislative session concluded yesterday, and there was one pleasant surprise: the Senate passed SB 468! Many thanks to all who reached out to senators. Next, the bill will proceed to the House, which has passed similar bills in the past without significant opposition.
SB 468, which would allow each alternative treatment center (ATC) to operate one secure, well-regulated greenhouse, had previously been recommended for interim study (a.k.a. “a polite death”) by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The chairman of Senate Judiciary, Sen. Bill Gannon, spoke on the Senate floor yesterday and urged his colleagues not to pass the bill. Fortunately, his argument that allowing a few greenhouses might cause serious problems did not prevail. Sen. Howard Pearl and Sen. Tara Reardon spoke in favor of the bill, arguing that greenhouse cultivation would help reduce prices for New Hampshire patients. Ultimately, ten Republican senators joined all eight Democratic senators in voting to overturn the committee. The bill was subsequently approved in a voice vote.
(If you’d like to watch the Senate debate and vote on this bill, the video is available here.)
We are very grateful to the 18 senators who stood up for SB 468. Here is the full list:
- Sen. David Rochefort
- Sen. Timothy Lang
- Sen. Mark McConkey
- Sen. David Watters
- Sen. Suzanne Prentiss
- Sen. James Gray
- Sen. Daniel Innis (cosponsor of SB 468)
- Sen. Donovan Fenton (cosponsor of SB 468)
- Sen. Tim McGough
- Sen. Kevin Avard
- Sen. Cindy Rosenwald
- Sen. Tara Reardon (cosponsor of SB 468)
- Sen. Keith Murphy
- Sen. Howard Pearl (prime sponsor of SB 468)
- Sen. Victoria Sullivan
- Sen. Pat Long
- Sen. Rebecca Perkins Kwoka
- Sen. Debra Altschiller
Additionally, here are the six senators (all Republicans) who voted to kill the bill:
- Sen. Ruth Ward
- Sen. Denise Ricciardi
- Senate President Sharon Carson
- Senate Majority Leader Regina Birdsell
- Sen. Daryl Abbas
- Sen. Bill Gannon
If your senator voted in favor of SB 468, feel free to send them a “thank you” email! You can find your senator’s contact information here.
What’s Next for SB 468
We are confident that SB 468 will pass the House sometime in the next two months. If the House approves it with no changes, it will proceed to Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s desk, and she will have three options: sign it, veto it, or allow it to become law without her signature.
If she vetoes the bill, we would need 2/3 majorities in both the House and Senate in order to override the veto.
If she signs it or allows it to become law, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) would begin developing regulations specific to greenhouse cultivation. After the regulations have been adopted, ATCs would be invited to “submit a detailed proposal to the department… which shall include the alternative treatment center’s plan to reduce energy costs and provide lower prices for registered qualifying patients.” Finally, before approving an ATC’s greenhouse proposal, DHHS would solicit input from the community where the greenhouse would be located.
In other words, the impact of this bill would not be immediate. However, once greenhouses are finally up and running, ATCs will be able to produce therapeutic cannabis much more efficiently, enabling us to offer lower prices. We look forward to proceeding with this plan, assuming the bill does become law in 2026.
As always, we will keep you posted as the legislative session continues to progress. Thanks for reading!
