New Hampshire remains New England’s lone holdout against legalizing recreational marijuana

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Legislation to legalize recreational marijuana in New Hampshire died on the House floor Thursday after advancing further than ever in New England’s only holdout state.

The House has passed multiple legalization bills over the years only to have them blocked in the Senate. This year, both chambers passed legislation, and the Senate approved a compromise worked out by negotiators from both chambers. But the House declined to go along, instead voting 178-173 to table it and let it die as the session ended.

The House-passed version had included a 10% tax, while the final version kept the 15% favored by the Senate, as well as the state-run franchise model the Senate wanted and the House strongly opposed.

Rep. Jared Sullivan, a Democrat from Bethlehem, said the compromise did little to change what he called an “ugly” Senate bill. He described it as “the most intrusive big-government marijuana program proposed anywhere in the country, one that ignores free market principles, will stifle innovation in an emerging industry and tie future generations of Granite Staters to an inferior model indefinitely.”

Sullivan also pushed back against the suggestion that the law could have been tweaked next year to better reflect the House’s stance.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«RELATED COVERAGE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true» data-gtm-modulestyle=«List B»> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> RELATED COVERAGE </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> New Hampshire election chief gives update on efforts to boost voter confidence </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Political consultant behind fake