cannabisnews.com: Senate Panel Hears Medical Pot Bill
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Senate Panel Hears Medical Pot Bill
Posted by CN Staff on April 15, 2009 at 05:33:17 PT
By Kevin Landrigan, Staff Writer
Source: Nashua Telegraph
Concord, NH --  Wheelchair-bound Clayton Holden, 23, said that at least 10 times, police in this state have approached but never arrested him for smoking marijuana."They took one look at me, one look at my condition, and they tell me to be careful and have a good day," Holden told the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday.
Since he was 10, Holden has suffered from Duchene Muscular Dystrophy and found using marijuana dulls the chronic pain and allows him to have to use less other medication to function. Holden spoke near the close of a three-hour hearing on a controversial bill to legalize the use of marijuana for those with a "debilitating medical condition."Strong opposition from a state prosecutor and State Police lieutenant interrupted a steady stream of patients, supportive legislators and advocates, all of whom want to make New Hampshire the 14th state to legalize medical use of marijuana.The House of Representatives passed the bill (HB 648) by a healthy margin last month.Gov. John Lynch said he's concerned that marijuana possession would remain against the law but has declined to say whether he would veto this bill if the state Senate passed it.Assistant Attorney General Karin Eckel testified Tuesday that this effort is a stalking horse for those who want to more broadly legalize marijuana use."Clearly if this bill is passed into law, it will only fuel the growing, largely unregulated criminal enterprise that is sweeping our country under the guise of medical marijuana," Eckel said.U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed last month his office would not prosecute under federal law patients who use marijuana for medical use in states where it is legal.Matthew Simon, executive director of the New Hampshire Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy, said there's no recent example of federal enforcement against patients living in states with medical marijuana laws that include Maine, Vermont and Rhode Island."To simply allow patients to grow a few plants in their closets is not going to draw the wrath of the federal government," Simon said. But State Police Lt. Russell Conte said marijuana is not a benign substance. Users have caused carnage on the highways and enforcement of its use for medical purposes would be fraught with problems, he said."All I am saying legalization doesn't end there," Conte said. "The regulation doesn't end. The enforcement doesn't end. The tragedies don't end."The bill would allow qualified patients or their caregivers to grow and possess six marijuana plants, six seeds and two ounces of the drug.Only those in constant pain, having seizures or severe persistent muscle spasms or having severe nausea or vomiting and who aren't helped by legal medications for at least three months would qualify to use marijuana.The prime author, Rep. Evalyn Merrick, D-Lancaster, admits many would buy it illegally on the black market. The bill permits an eligible patient here to try to get some for free from a patient in another state where medical marijuana use is legal."These patients are not drug addicts. They do not support the recreational use. They don't want to decriminalize it. They are law abiding citizens who want to try and relieve their suffering," said Merrick, who has myeloma and took marijuana during chemotherapy treatments in 2002.Rep. Cindy Rosenwald, D-Nashua, said the bill is narrowly drawn and not open to abuse."I know that there are people in New Hampshire who use marijuana because they are sick and they are suffering," Rosenwald said.Ellen McClung of Gilford suffers from multiple sclerosis and used marijuana for pain while getting Interferon treatments."Stress? I think everybody accepts that makes illness worse," McClung, 52, said. "To me there is nothing more stressful than this scene being described as being arrested, being prosecuted."I am not a criminal." BILL AT A GLANCE: Bill No. HB 648SPONSOR: State Rep. Evelyn Merrick, D-Lancaster.DESCRIPTION: The bill permits possession of six plants, six seeds and up to 2 ounces of useable marijuana for those with a “debilitating medical condition’’ under the supervision of a physician. Under the amended bill, a person would cultivate his or her own marijuana or get it as a gift and not a for-profit sale from another, qualified patient.STATUS: The House of Representatives voted, 234-138, last month to approve the bill. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee conducted a three-hour public hearing on the bill Tuesday. Source: Nashua Telegraph, The (Nashua, NH)Author: Kevin Landrigan, Staff WriterPublished: Wednesday, April 15, 2009Copyright: 2009 Telegraph Publishing CompanyContact: letters nashuatelegraph.comWebsite: http://www.nashuatelegraph.comURL: http://drugsense.org/url/gKAGwiXtRelated Articles:House OK's Bill To Legalize Medical Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread24623.shtmlHouse Panel Backs Medical Marijuana Billhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread24594.shtml 
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Comment #3 posted by MTag on April 15, 2009 at 15:40:08 PT
when will they learn
"Clearly if this bill is passed into law, it will only fuel the growing, largely unregulated criminal enterprise that is sweeping our country under the guise of medical marijuana," Eckel said.unregulated criminal enterprise, its amazing that the ones that are against regulation are the ones complaining about crime. These prohibitionists have their heads so far up their own rears that they will never see the big picture.Someone also needs to introduce a bill that bans police and the like from lobbying for or against bills. They are there to uphold the law not make them. How can we keep allowing prison guard unions to lobby for harsher penalties and longer sentences like in cali or police from preventing the sick and dying from having a decent quality of life by going out and fighting against alternative medicines. This makes me sick.
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Comment #2 posted by Sam Adams on April 15, 2009 at 10:01:10 PT
oink!
But State Police Lt. Russell Conte said marijuana is not a benign substance. Users have caused carnage on the highways and enforcement of its use for medical purposes would be fraught with problems, he said."All I am saying legalization doesn't end there," Conte said. "The regulation doesn't end. The enforcement doesn't end. The tragedies don't end."No, the tragedies don't end until we get you pigs off our backs permanently.
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on April 15, 2009 at 05:43:01 PT
N.H. -- Medical Marijuana: Pleas for The Sick
April 15, 2009URL: http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20090415-NEWS-904150364
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