A bill allowing for the cultivation of industrial hemp (HB 239) introduced last month in the New Hampshire House of Representatives by Rep. Amy Robb-Theroux (D-Claremont) was dealt an unofficial defeat last Thursday as House members sent the bill back to the Environment and Agriculture Committee to be studied further.
Heavy lobbying by local law enforcement and opposition from both Gov. Jeanne Shaheen and the state attorney general was enough to sway the House members to all but kill the legislation. Law enforcement in the state continue to claim that planting industrial hemp would make it more difficult to enforce marijuana laws.
“This is not marijuana,” said Rep. Derek Owen (D-Hopkinton). “I don’t know how you can tell it’s terrible if we haven’t even planted it yet.”
It is unlikely that this industrial hemp bill will return to the House this year.
For more information, please contact Rep. Amy Robb-Theroux at (603) 271-3125 or Tom Dean Esq., NORML Foundation Litigation Director.
