The New Hampshire House of Representatives voted today against concurring with the Senate amendments to a bill that would allow medical marijuana to be prescribed for any condition.
The House’s decision to reject the Senate’s amendments to House Bill 1278 comes six days after the Senate passed the bill.
The House had previously passed HB 1278 in March with a strong majority. However, due to amendments made by the Senate, the bill required a final concurrence from the House. Instead of agreeing to the Senate’s changes, the House voted to establish a conference committee to address the differences between the two chambers’ versions of the bill.
Representatives Joseph Layon, Laurie Doucette, Renny Cushing Schapiro, and Susan Almy have been appointed to the conference committee via a voice vote by the full chamber. If the Senate agrees to this committee, it will assign its own members, and the committee will quickly begin holding meetings to facilitate a potential compromise on HB 1278
According to its official summary, this bill:
changes the definition of “qualifying medical condition” under RSA 126-X, the state’s therapeutic cannabis law, by adding any debilitating or terminal medical condition for which therapeutic cannabis is recommended by a clinical provider. The Department of Health and Human Services indicates that this change may result in more patients eligible for the therapeutic cannabis program. To the extent that additional patients apply to the program, there will be an increase in application fee revenue received by the Department. Though indeterminable, the Department estimates the bill may result in up to 10 percent growth, increasing revenue by up to $70,000 per year. Under the statutorily mandated self-funding structure of the therapeutic cannabis program in RSA 126-X and the fee structure established in administrative rule, any increase in application fee revenue will result in lower annual registration fees for the alternative treatment centers. There will be an increase in the number of applications processed by the Department, however it is not expected that the increase will necessitate additional staff.
The House will be voting tomorrow, May 30 on whether to concur with Senate changes to House Bill 1278, which would legalize recreational marijuana.
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