April 2025 NH Cannabis Bill Update

Hello my friends. Time for a quick update on the slate of 2025 cannabis bills. (Note their are two pages that you can get to at the bottom of the PDF using the page change feature that shows when you hover over it.)

Call to Action: Now is the time to contact your Senator to support these cannabis bills! 

See instructions and tips at the bottom of this post and act today!

Senate Judiciary Bill Hearing Updates

• Bill HB190 – Relative to Therapeutic Cannabis Possession Limits. Hearing: 4/15/25 Room 100. State House 1:20PM; SC17
• Bill HB198 – Relative to Legalizing Certain Quantities of Cannabis and Establishing Penalties for the Smoking or Vaping of Cannabis in Public. Hearing: 4/15/25 Room 100. State House 1:40PM; SC17
• Bill HB301 – Relative to Cultivation Locations for Alternative Treatment Centers. Hearing: 4/15/25 Room 100. State House 1:10PM; SC17
• Bill HB380 – Relative to Penalties for Criminal Violations of the Therapeutic Use of Cannabis. Hearing: 4/15/25 Room 100. State House 1:30PM; SC17
• Bill HB528 – Relative to Amending the Penalties for the Possession and use of Psilocybin for Persons 18 years of age or older. Hearing: 4/15/25 Room 100. State House 1:50PM; SC17

Contact Your Senator:

1. Find Your Senator: https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/senate/members/wml.aspx
2. Locate their Email: https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/senate/members/senate_roster.aspx
3. Click on each of the Senator member links to find their email.
4. Send them a respectful email asking them to support the cannabis bills.

Register Your Support Online During the Hearing:

1. Go to the Senate Remote Sign In Sheet: https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/remotecommittee/senate.aspx
2. Select the Date on the Calendar.
3. Select the Judiciary Committee.
4. Choose the bill.
5. For the ‘I am’ field, choose ‘Member of the Public’.
6. For the ‘I’m Representing’ choose ‘Myself’.
7. Indicate your position on the bill by selecting ‘I Support this Bill’.
8. Click ‘Continue’.

What If You Don’t Know the Bill Name or Number?

On the General Court website – https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/

• Use Find A Bill – if you have the number of the bill

• Use Bill Text Search – if you know what the bill is about (for example, you could search for bills that have the word “cannabis” in them)

• Use Bill Search by Legislator – if you know who sponsored the bill or who is a co-sponsor

What If You Don’t Know the Committee or Schedule?

On the main page of the General Court Website use the options under Meeting Resources:

• Use House Calendar for the House of Representatives bills
• Use Senate Calendar for the Senate

These calendars are published weekly and tell you which committees are meeting and which bills they will be hearing/voting on. Some bills (cannabis) almost always go to the same committees (Health and Human Services), but sometimes bills go to a committee that is not expected (a recent cannabis bill went to Ways and Means). You just have to scan the calendar for keywords.

Tips on Written Testimony:

• Keep it short.

• Use the bill title AS WELL AS the bill number.

• Say in the beginning whether you support or oppose the bill.

• Use paragraphs with breaks – don’t send a solid block of text.

• Be respectful.

• Sign with your name and your town/address

• If possible, have a second pair of eyes on your written testimony. Sometimes people will pick up communication issues that you didn’t catch.

Tips on Verbal Testimony:

• Introduce yourself – name and address

• Keep it short – 3 minutes max

• STICK TO THE POINT – avoid any “and another things”

• Speak clearly into the microphone

• Speak slowly

• Sit up straight, don’t slouch (it helps you be heard better)

• It’s fine to read your testimony if you need to

• Sometimes you will be asked questions = go ahead and answer to the best of your ability but sometimes it’s fine to say, I don’t have the answer, perhaps it would be better to ask someone else

• Dress appropriately – nothing that’s inflammatory – you don’t want to turn off anyone before you even testify

• Generally be respectful – even if you oppose a bill, this is the process that we have and you need to work within it

• Show up on time, but be prepared to wait if the committee is running over

General Outline for Written and Verbal Testimony:

1. What the problem is

2. Why it’s a problem

3. Why this solution fixes it

4. Final ask – please support or oppose this bill.

Verbal testimony is usually capped at 3 minutes.

Written testimony that goes much over one page is usually only skimmed. By keeping it shorter you have more of a chance of getting your point across.

Don’t combine messages for multiple bills – use a separate email for each bill.