PRESS RELEASE — The New Hampshire Senate approved a bill Thursday (14-10) to allow participants in the state’s therapeutic cannabis program to cultivate their own cannabis. HB 364 will now head back to the House, where it passed in a voice vote on March 7. If the House concurs with the Senate version, it will be sent to the desk of Gov. Chris Sununu.
HB 364 would allow possession of three mature cannabis plants, three immature plants, and 12 seedlings for each patient. Thursday’s vote marked the first time the Senate has ever supported legislation allowing home cultivation of medical cannabis. If the bill becomes law, New Hampshire will be the first state to add home cultivation to a medical cannabis program that initially limited patients’ source of cannabis to dispensaries.
“This critically important bill will make medical cannabis more accessible to qualifying patients in New Hampshire,” said Matt Simon, New England political director for the Marijuana Policy Project. “Medical cannabis is not covered by health insurance, and many patients are unable to afford the products that are available at dispensaries. For some, home cultivation is simply the best, most affordable option.”