A New Hampshire commission tasked with preparing legislation to legalize marijuana sales through a system of state-run stores has officially been established, with members being appointed to the panel and a first meeting scheduled for next week.
The governor signed a bill to create the commission earlier this month after bipartisan and bicameral lawmakers reached an agreement to enact the incremental reform in a conference committee.
Now the panel has taken shape, with its 17 members holding mixed records on cannabis policy.
The commission includes five lawmakers from the House, five members from the Senate, a governor’s designee and professionals representing banking, health, law enforcement and civil rights interests.
A first meeting is set for Friday, September 8, and the panel is expected to move quickly to study and draft novel legalization legislation for lawmakers to consider in the second half of the two-year legislative session that begins in January. The commission’s work will be due December 1.
“Polling has shown that the vast majority, more than 70 percent, of New Hampshire residents support the legalization of marijuana for adults,” Sen. Becky Whitley (D), one of the appointed commission members who has championed comprehensive legalization in the state, told Marijuana
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