New Hampshire subcommittee backs HB 54 to let medical cannabis centers convert to for‑profit status

CONCORD, N.H. — A House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs subcommittee on Friday signaled support for HB 54, a bill that would allow existing Alternative Treatment Centers (ATCs) in New Hampshire to change corporate status from nonprofit to for‑profit in order to improve access and lower costs for patients.

The subcommittee’s discussion focused on two recurring problems that proponents said the bill would address: constrained financing that limits ATCs’ ability to expand or modernize, and limited patient access that drives some New Hampshire patients to buy unregulated product across state lines. Lawmakers also pressed for guardrails to prevent large, out‑of‑state cannabis companies from taking control of the program.

Supporters told the panel that nonprofit status has made it difficult for the three statutorily authorized ATCs to obtain conventional business loans. “Being structured as a nonprofit reduces our ability in a material way to raise funds,” said Brandon Pollock, volunteer chair of the board for Temescal Wellness. He said high interest debt has constrained the company’s ability to open an additional dispensary and upgrade equipment. “If this legislation makes it all the way through…that would give the organization flexibility to look for more conventional business financing and retire that debt load.”

Keenan Blum, CEO of Granite Leaf Cannabis, described similar operational limits and said the company employs about 45 people in New Hampshire and…