The day after the New Hampshire senate voted down a marijuana-legalization proposal, the state’s governor, Chris Sununu, on Friday announced his support for legalization if done “in the right way.”
The form of legalization proposed in the bill that was defeated on Thursday “was not the right path for our state,” he said.
Sununu, a Republican, has historically been opposed to recreational marijuana. However, he has supported other marijuana measures, including decriminalizing possession, expanding access to medical marijuana, and providing a pathway to annul old marijuana-possession convictions.
“Knowing that a majority of our residents support legalization, it is reasonable to assume change is inevitable. To ignore this reality would be shortsighted and harmful,” Sununu said in a statement released Friday. “With the right policy and framework in place, I stand ready to sign a legalization bill that puts the State of NH in the drivers seat, focusing on harm reduction — not profits.”
Sununu wants marijuana to be handled in a similar way to how alcohol is controlled by the New Hampshire Liquor Commission, with the state retaining control of marketing, sales, and distribution. According to Sununu, no additional taxes should be enacted with respect to marijuana in order to undercut the cartels that continue to drive the state’s illicit drug market. One bill that failed Thursday in the Senate would have allowed for a 12.5 percent tax.
New Hampshire should prohibit “marijuana miles,” or areas with a dense concentration of marijuana shops, the governor said.
A bill that would garner his support should also give cities and towns the ability to ban shops if they wish and would control all marijuana messaging, “avoiding billboards, commercials, and digital ads that bombard kids on a daily basis.”
New Hampshire Democrats were frustrated that Sununu waited until after the Senate voted down marijuana legalization Thursday to announce his support, according to the Boston Globe. They also alluded to Sununu’s possible entrance into the 2024 presidential race as a factor shaping his views on the matter.
Senate Republicans who opposed the recent legalization effort would still have to be persuaded to lend their support to a future bill. Senate President Jeb Bradley, a Republican and close Senate ally of Sununu’s, said in a statement Thursday that he’s opposed to recreational marijuana.
“Recreationalizing marijuana at this critical juncture would send a confusing message, potentially exacerbating the already perilous drug landscape and placing more lives at risk,” he said. “Now is not the appropriate time to divert our attention away from addressing the pressing challenges posed by the drug crisis.”