A marijuana plant is seen at the BOL (Breath Of Life) Pharma greenhouse in the country's second-largest medical cannabis plantation, near Kfar Pines in northern Israel, on March 9, 2016.The recreational use of cannabis is illegal in the Jewish state, but for the past 10 years its therapeutic use has not only been permitted but also encouraged. Last year, doctors prescribed the herb to about 25,000 patients suffering from cancer, epilepsy, post-traumatic stress and degenerative diseases. The purpose is not to cure them but to alleviate their symptoms. Forbidden to export its cannabis plants, Israel is concentrating instead on marketing its agronomic, medical and technological expertise in the hope of becoming a world hub in the field. / AFP PHOTO / JACK GUEZJACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images

New Hampshire House votes to legalize recreational marijuana

Published: • Updated:

By , The Cannabist Staff

Less than two months after similar legislation was blocked in the New Hampshire House, the body approved a bill Tuesday that would legalize possession and recreational sales of marijuana.

The House voted 207-139 in favor on a bill that would legalize the possession of up to three-fourths of an ounce of marijuana, and the cultivation of three plants by adults. The legislation would also create a regulatory system for cultivating and distributing marijuana, and taxing sales.

A majority of the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee had recommended the bill be killed because a commission created last year to study the issue won’t make its recommendations until November. Last November, that committee voted not to recommend a legalization bill to the House.

The Senate must now vote on the bill.

The state had passed laws in 2013 legalizing medical marijuana and in 2017 decriminalizing adult-use marijuana.

Update, 11:45 a.m. MT, January 9: NORML is reporting that “New Hampshire House Leadership, instead of sending the approved bill directly to the state Senate, has referred the legislation back to the House Ways and Means Committee. Now, either the committee declines to take action and sends the bill to the state Senate or holds hearings on the bill before sending it back to the House floor for another full vote.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.