Advertisement Bill to legalize marijuana in NH moves forward Support growing, according to poll, but measure faces skeptical Senate, veto threat Share Shares Copy Link Copy

A new poll shows opposition to legalizing marijuana in New Hampshire continues to fall.Click here to view News 9’s reportThe latest numbers from the University of New Hampshire Survey Center show 53 percent support the idea and only 38 percent of people are opposed.At the Statehouse, a bill to legalize marijuana continues to make progress.On Tuesday, representatives formed a special five-member subcommittee to examine the issue in depth.Republicans Reps. Russell Ober, Jordan Ulery, and Frank Sapareto and Democrats Patty Lovejoy and Jack Kelley will try to figure out how to make legalization work.“I mean, we’re being realistic, and that’s about all we’re trying to do,” said Kelley, a Nashua Democrat.That realism involves careful examination of how the state would earn money from a commercial marijuana market.“There are many tiny interlocking elements,” said Ulery, a Hudson Republican. “For example, the law as written says a person can be a grower, cultivator, and a manufacturer and a distributor. So where’s the tax?”But before the tax comes the profit, and any eventual businesses built on cannabis would only be able to deal in cash.“Right now, a bank cannot legally have an account for somebody that’s doing something that’s illegal as far as federal law is concerned,” said Lovejoy, a Stratham Democrat and the vice chairperson of the Ways and Means Committee.Lovejoy said another struggle will be finding the right state agency for oversight.“If you’re dealing with edibles, you’ve got (Health and Human Services) involved. There are also health repercussions that would be under HHS,” Lovejoy said. “With the growing issue, should you have the Department of Agriculture?”With a skeptical Senate and a governor threatening to veto, the representatives said their work will be academic, but worthwhile because the issue isn’t going away.“We don’t expect this to get through this year, but we think we can overcome a lot of the obstacles that are inherent right now in the bill,” said Sapareto, a Derry Republican.