After repeated legalization hang-ups, New Hampshire House lawmakers are offering their colleagues in the Senate multiple reform bills this session to see what sticks.

Representatives in the lower chamber voted, 208-125, to pass a simple adult-use legalization bill on March 26 that would allow those 21 years and older to possess cannabis; however, the bill refrains from establishing a commercial marketplace. It’s the second adult-use legalization bill the House passed this year.

The latest legislation, House Bill 198, sponsored by Rep. Jared Sullivan, D-Bethlehem, would allow adults to possess 2 ounces of cannabis, 10 grams of concentrate or 2,000 milligrams of THC. It would not permit home cultivation, leaving state residents no legal options to obtain cannabis or cannabis products—transporting a Schedule I drug across state lines is federally illegal.

H.B. 198 is similar to legislation that House members passed on Feb. 20 via a voice vote. That legislation, H.B. 75, sponsored by Rep. Kevin Verville, R-Deerfield, aims to remove and adjust penalties for adults who consume or possess cannabis.

During Wednesday’s House floor debate on Sullivan’s bill, Sullivan explained why he continued to pursue H.B. 198 in light of Verville’s previously passed H.B. 75.

“I did talk to some senators who thought this model, which is slightly different than the one we’ve already passed a few weeks ago, there are a few guardrails and some of the senators said they might be open to supporting it with some of these guardrails, like a prohibition on public consumption,” Sullivan said.

While 93% of House Democrats and 39% of House Republicans who cast votes supported Sullivan’s H.B. 198 this week, the legislation faces a less clear path in the Senate.

New Hampshire was on the verge of becoming the 25th state to legalize adult-use cannabis last year, when the Senate passed and amended version of a House-originated bill, but the two chambers collided over a state-run “franchise model” for dispensaries and couldn’t resolve their differences in a conference committee.

Former Gov. Chris Sununu indicated that he was open to signing a legalization bill last session only if it included a state-run model.

Meanwhile, Gov. Kelly Ayotte, who took office in January, said along her campaign trail that she had no interest in signing any cannabis legalization bills.

Rep. Jennifer Rhodes, R-Winchester, who opposed H.B. 198 on March 26, pointed out the unlikelihood of Sullivan’s bill, or any adult-use legalization bill, becoming law this session.

“For as long as I’ve been here, we are up here discussing marijuana,” she said. “We keep passing them out of this body. They go across the street; they go nowhere. To my understanding, there has not been a single bill that has made it to the governor’s office. I do know that every single time we pass one, something, no matter how minute, comes up. … I know I’m going to vote no because I know the other body’s going to vote no, and I know the governor is not going to sign it.”

Sullivan said he agreed that it might be a tall ask for the governor to sign his bill, but House members shouldn’t allow a separate branch of government or a different legislative chamber dictate their votes.

“I don’t think we should kill bills simply because we think they won’t be successful in another body; that’s not a very compelling argument to me,” he said. “If we think it’s right, then we should pass it here today.”

Sullivan is sponsoring another adult-use cannabis bill this session, H.B. 186, which would go the full distance in not only legalizing consumption and possession but also in establishing a licensed, taxed and regulated market for commercial operators. That bill remains in committee.

Among the 24 states to legalize adult-use cannabis in the U.S., Vermont initially passed a bill in January 2018 that was limited to possession and home cultivation before lawmakers enacted follow-up legislation to establish a licensed program. It took more than 4 1/2 years before launching sales.

In addition, Virginia passed an adult-use possession bill in April 2021, but lawmakers have been unsuccessful in enacting follow-up legislation for adult-use sales ever since: Gov. Glenn Younkin vetoed the latest attempt on March 24, 2025.

Sullivan acknowledged Vermont’s path to adult-use sales on Wednesday, suggesting New Hampshire could take a similar approach while the state’s bicameral legislation doesn’t see eye-to-eye on parameters for a licensed marketplace.

“Once we get it legalized, we can continue to have that debate,” he said. “That seems to be where the sticking points is. Do we want it to be a private industry-based model? Do we want it to be state-run models? These things are where we’re getting kind of caught up in the weeds, and it seems like most people agree that we should legalize it.”

Although New Hampshire remains the last adult-use legalization holdout in New England, 65% of Granite Staters support reforming laws to allow those 21 years and older to access cannabis, according to a June 2024 survey conducted by the University of New Hampshire.

Under current law, possessing less than 3/4 ounce of cannabis is a civil penalty, while possessing more is a misdemeanor punishable by one year in prison and up to a $350 fine.

“It’s 2025,” Sullivan said. “Let’s stop arresting people and ruining their lives for the possession of cannabis, something that many states in the country have already legalized for possession and, in most places, for sale.”