A New Hampshire Democratic gubernatorial candidate is criticizing the incumbent Republican governor for vetoing a bill to let medical cannabis companies grow marijuana in greenhouses.
Supporters say the proposal will make cannabis more affordable and available for patients, and it passed the Senate and House of Representatives in voice votes this session—but Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) vetoed it last month.
“Come on, Kelly. Shouldn’t we be trying to make health care more affordable for Granite Staters, not less?” Cinde Warmington, the sole Democrat running for her party’s nomination to challenge Ayotte in November, said in a video posted to social media.
“This bill would have made medical cannabis more affordable and more accessible to Granite Staters who really need it, and she vetoed it,” Warmington said. “But honestly, this is what we’ve come to expect from Kelly Ayotte. Look what she did to the Medicaid premiums. She increased them by up to $270 a month on the most vulnerable Granite Staters. She increased prescription co-pays when other costs are already going through the roof.”
“New Hampshire deserves a governor who will fight to make sure we have lower health care costs and that health care is more accessible,” the Democratic candidate, who previously served as a member of the New Hampshire Executive Council, said. “That’s the bottom line.”
In a veto statement on the medical marijuana greenhouse bill, the governor simply said, “I do not support expanding the cultivation of marijuana in our state.”
Meanwhile, New Hampshire lawmakers and advocates are pushing to override Ayotte’s veto.
“I disagree with the governor’s decision to veto SB 468,” Sen. Howard Pearl (R), the lead sponsor of the legislation, told Marijuana Moment last month. “This bipartisan bill would have provided a practical way to lower costs for patients with serious medical conditions while maintaining the rigorous oversight and safeguards that have made New Hampshire’s Therapeutic Cannabis Program successful.”
“At a time when affordability remains a significant challenge for many families, we should be looking for responsible ways to expand access to treatment and ease financial burdens,” he said.
Sen. Tara Reardon (D) similarly said she is “disappointed” in the governor’s action, which she said will result in “denying cost-saving measures for more than 17,000 veterans and patients across New Hampshire who rely on medical cannabis as an important component of their physician-recommended care.”
“I hope my Senate colleagues will join me in voting to override the veto and pass the bill into law,” she told Marijuana Moment.
The legislation says that “each alternative treatment center registered under this section may request authorization to operate a greenhouse cultivation location, at the same or at a different location than its existing cultivation location, in order to reduce energy costs and provide lower prices for registered qualifying patients.”
The only person to testify against the bill this session was a former state lawmaker who now serves as chair of the prohibitionist organization Smart Approaches to Marijuana NH.
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Ayotte has separately threatened to veto any marijuana legalization bill that reaches her desk.
The governor said last year that her position on the reform would not change even as the federal government moved forward with rescheduling the plant.
In 2024, then-Gov. Chris Sununu (R) vetoed a similar proposal to allow cannabis businesses to cultivate in greenhouses. The House had enough votes to override that action, but the Senate did not.
Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.
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