I’ve been proud to see the NH House of Representatives pass legalization bills four times in recent years, including twice this year. But I am disappointed to see the current approach, HB 1598, seems designed to fail. Cannabis is safer than alcohol — it doesn’t cause fatal overdoses and isn’t linked to violence. The “Live Free or Die” State should not be punishing adults for using cannabis responsibly, nor should it be driving sales to the unregulated underground market. Unfortunately, HB 1598, simply would not work. It would only allow state-run stores to distribute cannabis, which is preempted by federal law. It fails to even include a safety valve — to say that private stores will be licensed if the Liquor Commission does not open its stores within a reasonable amount of time. As Vanderbilt Law Professor Robert Mikos explained in the Journal of Health Care Law and Policy, "State cultivation and distribution of marijuana would clearly pose a direct conflict with the CSA. The state itself would be violating Section 841’s prohibition on the cultivation/distribution of marijuana, no less than private dispensaries do now. It would be physically impossible for the state employees tasked with operating a state dispensary to perform their required duties while also complying with the CSA’s prohibition against marijuana trafficking.” New Hampshire can, however, license and regulate private entities that dispense cannabis, just as the state already does for medical cannabis. Please vote “no” on HB 1598 unless it has been amended to be workable. New Hampshire has plenty of bills pending that would legalize cannabis without creating an unworkable boondoggle.

There’s a reason the 37 states, including our own, that have medical cannabis laws don’t put the state in charge of distributing cannabis. Federal law stands in the way of that approach. Utah briefly considered state-run distribution but revised its law after county attorneys explained that doing so would put state employees at risk under federal law. Utah’s Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings noted, “the federal Controlled Substances Act is directly in conflict with what the state statute [under the original law] requires health departments to do. There is no exemption in federal law for being basically a marijuana distributor — a dealer — for a county. There is no exception.” The same legal issue applies to legalization: state-run stores are a poison pill unless and until federal law changes. Yet HB 1598 takes that approach. The bill was amended in the Ways & Means Committee, but it remains fatally flawed. There is not even a safety valve with private licensing in the likely event that the Liquor Commission ultimately decides against committing dozens of federal felonies on a daily basis. Please vote “no” on HB 1598. Cannabis prohibition has been a colossal policy failure. New Hampshire will only embarrass itself and waste tax dollars if it swaps one policy failure with another.

I hope you agree it’s past time to legalize, tax, and regulate cannabis for adults 21 and older. Eighteen other states and Canada — all of our neighbors — have taken this more sensible approach. It might surprise you that I’m writing to urge you to vote “no” on HB 1598, which would legalize cannabis and set up a state-run monopoly. Sadly, this approach seems destined to fail. States can license and regulate private cannabis businesses, but they cannot direct their own workers to break federal law by selling cannabis. Doing so creates a “direct and positive conflict” and is preempted. Please vote “no” on HB 1598, and instead support the many bills that would legalize cannabis without including a poison pill.