2023 bill to legalize recreational cannabis had solid support in the House

Although a 2023 bill to legalize recreational cannabis failed in the New Hampshire Senate, it had solid support in the House, and the climate for such legislation seems to be shifting after the governor, for years opposed to recreational marijuana, recently changed his tone and said there’s a path forward. Locally, a bill with a regulatory framework has the support of some local lawmakers, including state Rep. David Rochefort, R-Littleton, and former Democratic state Rep. Tim Egan, of Sugar Hill, who chairs the board of directors for the New Hampshire Cannabis Association (NH CANN). New Hampshire is surrounded by New England states that have since legalized recreational marijuana with varying levels of regulation. The benefit that New Hampshire has in being the last New England state to do so is that it can study what other states have done wrong and what other states have done right, said Rochefort.