A key committee in the New Hampshire House of Representatives has given overwhelming bipartisan approval to legislation that would allow patients and their caregiver to grow medical marijuana for personal use.
Today, the House Health, Human Services, and Elderly Affairs Committee voted 13 to 4 to advance House Bill 53 towards a vote of the full House of Representatives.
Filed by State Representatives Wendy Thomas (D), Heath Howard (D), and Jim Kofalt (R), the legislation would allow qualified patients, as well as designated caregivers, to grow up to three mature cannabis plants, three immature plants and up to 12 seedlings. All cannabis plants would be required to be kept in a secured and enclosed location.
New Hampshire legalized medical marijuana on July 23, 2013, when then-Governor Maggie Hassan signed House Bill 573 into law. The state’s first licensed dispensary opened in April 2016 in Plymouth. Under current law, registered patients are allowed to possess up to two ounces of marijuana, but home cultivation remains illegal. House Bill 53 seeks to change that by allowing patients and caregivers to grow a limited number of plants for personal use.
House Bill 53, if enacted, would take effect on July 1, 2025.
