Is weed legal in New Hampshire?
This article is going to cover:
Weed is not legal in New Hampshire for recreational use.
But weed is legal in New Hampshire for medical use.
Let’s look at the different types of New Hampshire weed laws.
| Offense | Penalties | Jail Time | Max Fines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Possession | |||
| Up to 3/4 ounces (first or second offense) | Civil Violation | None | $100 |
| Over 3/4 oz | Misdemeanor | 1 year | $350 |
| Sale Or Distribution | |||
| Less than 1 oz (first offense) | Felony | 3 years | $25,000 |
| 1 oz - less than 5 lbs (first offense) | Felony | 7 years | $100,000 |
| 5 lbs or more (first offense) | Felony | 20 years | $300,000 |
| Cultivation | |||
| Same penalties as Possession. | |||
| Hash & Concentrates | |||
| Possession of 5 g or less (first or second offense) | Civil Violation | None | $100 |
| Possession of more than 5 g | Misdemeanor | 1 year | $350 |
| Making or selling less than 5 g | Felony | 3 years | $25,000 |
| Making or selling 5 g - less than 1 lb | Felony | 7 years | $100,000 |
| Making or selling 1 lb or more | Felony | 20 years | $300,000 |
These are the marijuana laws for personal possession of marijuana.
Recreational weed has gotten decriminalized in New Hampshire for adult use.
You can have three-quarters of an ounce without criminal penalties.
With three-quarters of an ounce, you only get a $100 fine and no misdemeanors.
That goes for the first offense and the second offense.
For three offenses, the fines increase to $300 but still are not criminal convictions.
For the fourth offense within three years of the first, it’s a Class B Misdemeanor in NH.
You won’t get jail time for this.
But you can get a fine of up to $1,200.
These same penalties apply to:
Possession of more than three-quarters of an ounce is a misdemeanor in NH.
And is punishable by up to 1 year in jail and a $350 fine.
Related: How Many People Are In Jail For Weed
Selling any amount of marijuana in New Hampshire is a felony.
Selling less than one ounce gets you up to 3 years in jail and a fine of $25,000.
A second offense with this amount gets you up to 6 years in jail and a $50,000 fine.
The next range is one ounce up to 5 pounds of cannabis.
This felony is punishable by up to 7 years in jail and a $100,000 fine.
A second offense with this amount gets you up to 15 years in jail and a $200,000 fine.
The next felony range is 5+ pounds.
A first offense gets you up to 20 years in jail and a fine of $300,000.
A second offense gets you up to 40 years in jail and a $500,000 fine.
If you get busted within 1,000 ft of a school zone, your punishment gets doubled.
Punishment for the cultivation of cannabis in New Hampshire gets based on the weight.
The weights correspond with the Possession and Selling sections.
For example, growing 5+ pounds gets you a felony.
And up to 20 years in jail with a $300,000 fine.
But growing less than three-quarters of an ounce can be a civil penalty.
Cultivation weights depend on the weight of the plants.
This can include the root ball with soil, so be careful.
Law enforcement can play dirty to increase the charges you receive.
Adult use of hash got decriminalized for small amounts in New Hampshire.
Possession of less than 5 grams is a civil penalty and not a misdemeanor.
You will only get a $100 fine for the first offense and second offense.
But a third offense will land you with a $350 fine.
The fourth offense within 3 years of the first offense gets you a Class B Misdemeanor.
And you can get up to a $1,200 fine and no imprisonment.
But possession of 5+ grams lands you with a Misdemeanor even for a first-time offense.
And you’ll get up to one year in jail and a $350 fine.
Selling any amount of marijuana in New Hampshire is a felony.
Selling less than 5 grams gets you up to 3 years in jail and a fine of $25,000.
A second offense with this amount gets you up to 6 years in jail and a $50,000 fine.
The next range is 5 grams up to 1 pound of hash and concentrates.
This felony is punishable by up to 7 years in jail and a $100,000 fine.
A second offense with this amount gets you up to 15 years in jail and a $200,000 fine.
The next felony range is 1+ pounds.
A first offense gets you up to 20 years in jail and a fine of $300,000.
A second offense gets you up to 40 years in jail and a $500,000 fine.
If you get busted within 1,000 ft of a school zone, your punishment gets doubled.
Law enforcement will also give you a conviction for the equipment used, too.
Hash manufacturing equipment gets considered drug paraphernalia.
Use of, or delivery of, this equipment lands you with a misdemeanor.
You’ll get up to 1 year in jail and a $2,000 fine.
Possession or selling of paraphernalia is a misdemeanor in New Hampshire.
You will get up to 1 year in jail and a $2,000 fine.
Selling marijuana-infused products to minors is a misdemeanor.
Even if the products are not intentionally infused, but stored with infused products.
These include storing non-infused products with products like:
Let’s say you get convicted of selling or possessing marijuana if you’re 18-21 years old.
You can lose your driver’s license and the ability to get one again for up to 1 year.
Minors can also lose their ability to get a license.
The House passed bills for the decriminalization of recreational cannabis for adult use.
Small amounts of marijuana only get a civil penalty without criminal convictions.
This section is covering whether weed is legal in New Hampshire for:
Is weed legal in New Hampshire for recreational use?
No, weed is not legal in New Hampshire for recreational use.
New Hampshire marijuana laws got updated for cannabis decriminalization in 2017.
But adult-use legalization has been rejected several times.
Possession of up to 21 grams is a civil violation with no conviction and a $100 fine.
Possession of more than 21 grams of weed is a misdemeanor in New Hampshire.
And a first-time conviction up to one year in jail and a max fine of $350.
But weed is legal in neighboring New England states like:
Is weed legal in New Hampshire for medical use?
Yes, weed is legal in New Hampshire for medical use for qualifying conditions.
Medical weed has been legal in New Hampshire since 2013.
When Gov Hassan signed approval for legalizing medical marijuana.
The qualifying conditions for a medical card in New Hampshire are:
House Bill 89 got signed by Gov. Chris Sununu, adding two new medical conditions in 2021.
The new qualifying conditions were Autism Spectrum Disorder and Insomnia.
Medical marijuana laws allow patients to have two ounces at a time.
Patients are allowed to home-grow up to three-quarters of an ounce of marijuana.
This falls under the laws on cultivation for personal use mentioned above.
They are only able to purchase medical cannabis from licensed dispensaries.
There are currently 1,264 dispensaries and 11,948 medical marijuana users.
Purchasing cannabis outside of a licensed dispensary is illegal for New Hampshire residents.
The New Hampshire House in Concord continues to vote down marijuana legalization.
This bill legalized medical marijuana in New Hampshire.
But it was a strict medical marijuana legalization bill.
Dispensaries could only give medical weed to patients with qualifying conditions:
They were able to purchase up to two ounces of weed for personal use.
But they couldn’t get medical cannabis until they tried every other treatment.
This bill is a decriminalization bill that got signed by Gov. Chris Sununu.
It made marijuana possession under three-quarters of an ounce a civil offense.
Before lawmakers decriminalized the use of marijuana, people got misdemeanors.
The Senate allowed those with misdemeanors to have their records annulled.
Gov. Chris Sununu signed this House Bill for convictions of small amounts of marijuana.
74% of people in the Granite State want cannabis legalization for adult use per NORML.
Because of this, the Republican members of the state Senate created HB 629.
They tried to legalize:
But the Democratic lawmakers in the state Senate chose to veto this bill.
Because HB 629 got vetoed, the Republicans tried to pass another legalization bill through.
This one was only for the legalization of recreational cannabis in New Hampshire.
But not for the cultivation (home-grow) of marijuana.
The Senate vetoed this one as well.
The way it was set up gave a monopoly of cannabis sales to one group.
And lawmakers believed it wouldn’t get up and running due to federal laws.
If you’re interested in what states weed is legal in, here’s a list of all the states.
Disclaimer: These codes may not be the most recent version. There may be more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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