New Hampshire Added 2,100 New Medical Cannabis Patients Last Year

New Hampshire added over 2,100 patients to its medical cannabis program last year, bringing the total number of patients registered to nearly 17,000, the Concord Monitor reports.

The 14.5% spike in registrations for therapeutic cannabis was the largest year-over-year increase the state has seen since 2021.

The increase was likely driven by two new policies set in 2024. The changes included increasing the number of medical professionals who can recommend patients to the program, and allowing patients to be referred for any condition that the recommending professional believes could benefit from medical cannabis.

“There was certainly an uptick in growth after those bills took effect in late 2024. It hasn’t skyrocketed, but has somewhat accelerated the growth of the program. Where we’ve been, this extremely tiny program that was tiny for years, it is steadily growing.” — Matt Simon of GraniteLeaf Cannabis, via the Monitor

Meanwhile, New Hampshire House lawmakers passed an adult-use cannabis legalization proposal in January, but the proposal died within a month in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Even if the proposal had advanced, however, Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte staunchly opposes adult-use reforms and would likely veto any legalization plans from the General Court.