cannabisnews.com: Medical Marijuana at a Glance
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Medical Marijuana at a Glance
Posted by CN Staff on July 21, 2013 at 15:36:35 PT
By Kevin Landrigan
Source: Nashua Telegraph
New Hampshire -- The following are key features of the bill that – when Gov. Maggie Hassan signs it – will make New Hampshire the 19th state to legalize medical use of marijuana to treat chronic pain.PATIENT’S MEDICAL CONDITION: There are three tiers of eligible medical ailments to legally get and use this drug.
The first tier includes anyone who has cancer, glaucoma, positive status for HIV, AIDS, hepatitis C who currently gets antiviral treatment, catastrophic lateral sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, Crohn’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, chronic pancreatitis, spinal cord injury or disease, or traumatic brain injury. Further, it also covers anyone the patient’s doctor certifies has “one or more injuries that significantly interferes with daily activities.”The second is a more general category of those with a “severely debilitating or terminal medical condition” that causes or has side effects that produce either elevated intramuscular pressure, chemotherapy-induced anorexia, or wasting syndrome or cachexia. This may also cover someone suffering from “severe pain” who has not responded to medication or with treatment has “constant or severe nausea, moderate to severe vomiting, seizures, or severe, persistent muscle spasms.”The third stipulates that the Health and Human Services Department may agree to cover any other medical condition on a case-by-case basis if the patient is found to be “severely debilitating or terminal” according to his/her medical provider.PATIENT’S AGE/RESIDENCY: To qualify, someone has to live in the state for the past 30 days and be at least 18 years old.Younger patients can obtain and use medical marijuana only if a parent or legal guardian agrees to procure the drug for them and if the condition is certified by two health care providers, one of whom is a pediatrician.DEATH NOTIFICATION: A family member or caregiver must notify the state of a patient’s death within five days.OUT-OF-STATE PATIENTS: Those with a New Hampshire qualifying condition and an out-of-state registry card from states where medical marijuana possession is legal may possess and use the drug here. The out-of-state patient can’t purchase the drug in New Hampshire or give his marijuana to a New Hampshire patient or caregiver.To qualify, this patient must come from a state that also allows their own visitors with medical conditions to possess marijuana there.HEALTH CARE PROVIDER: Physicians licensed and certified by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to dispense controlled drugs can recommend marijuana for qualifying patients, as can advanced practice registered nurses if licensed in the relevant medical specialty.The provider has to have at least a three-month relationship with the patient and already have done an in-person exam, history, diagnosis and treatment plan. The only exception is if the patient’s actual condition occurred less than three months ago.ALTERNATIVE CARE CENTERS: Marijuana may only be dispensed at up to five nonprofit, state-approved locked dispensaries in the state.MARIJUANA AMOUNTS/GROWING: Care centers cannot have more than 80 plants, 80 ounces of usable marijuana, or 6 ounces for each qualified patient or caregiver at any one time. Cultivating marijuana onsite may not be visible to the public, and only organic pesticides may be used on the plants.CONFIDENTIAL LOCATION: The place where the drug is grown, manufactured and cultivated can only be revealed to state officials, town or city “representatives” in the host community, and law enforcement. The law allows the care center to have an “additional growing location” than the place where the drug is sold to patients and caregivers.CAREGIVER: Someone who can obtain marijuana for up to nine patients; the person has to be 21, have never been convicted of a felony and obtain a valid, state-issued registry card. They may be paid for services provided to those patients.LEGAL POSSESSION: A qualified patient or caregiver may obtain up to 2 ounces of marijuana from state dispensaries. It remains illegal for any patient or caregiver to grow their own marijuana.COST: No insurance plan is required to cover these purchases which, in similar states with medical marijuana laws, cost $200 an ounce or more.REBUTTAL EVIDENCE: A patient or caregiver can still be prosecuted based on evidence that the marijuana obtained from the dispensary was not to treat the medical condition.CRIMINAL PENALTIES: Any patient or caregiver who sells their medical marijuana to someone else would have their registry card revoked and, if convicted, face 31⁄2 to seven years in state prison, up to a $300,000 fine or both.FINE SANCTIONS: Patients smoking pot outside the home without their registry card must pay a $100 fine; any patient who fails within 10 days to notify the state of a change of name, address or their caregiver is fined $150; and any operator, employee or volunteer working at a dispensary who’s a convicted felon would be subject to a $1,000 fine.A patient who lies to law enforcement to avoid arrest or prosecution faces a $500 fine in addition to any criminal punishment for their illegal use of the drug.ILLEGAL USE: Any patient can be prosecuted for using medical marijuana while driving a car or boat, at work without permission of the employer, operating heavy machinery, or in “public” places, from buses, parks and schools to police stations and jails.INNOCENT BYSTANDER: No person can be arrested or face any professional sanctions simply for being in the presence of someone legally using medical marijuana.LEGAL DISPOSAL: Within 10 days of a patient notifying the state that they no longer need marijuana, he or she may turn it over to law enforcement or get rid of it in a way that makes it unusable. A caregiver may transfer unused marijuana to a patient’s replacement caregiver.REGISTRY CARD TERMS: To get one, patients must present a provider certifying their condition, their name, address and state of birth, passport photo, the biographical info of their caregiver, and the care center where they intend to get the drug.Caregivers have to submit all of the above plus a set of fingerprints and agree to pay for the State Police to conduct a criminal background check.REGISTRY DATA: The state must keep a registry of all patients and caregivers in the program, and that data is confidential and exempt from the state’s Right to Know Law.Law enforcement can obtain access to the registry information if they have a sworn affidavit during the course of a criminal investigation or have arrested someone who is a patient or caregiver regarding use of marijuana.RENTAL PROPERTY: A tenant may only use medical marijuana if the owner permits it and even then may not smoke it anywhere that would be in violation of the terms of the lease; patients may use the drug despite those lease terms if the marijuana is eaten or inhaled through vapors.TIMELINES: Within a year, the Health and Human Services Department must complete rules on registry cards and setting of fees for patients and caregivers to get them. Another six months later, operating rules for care center operations must be done.No sooner than 18 months from now, the state can approve up to two care centers to operate. After two years, the state must do a second competitive round and can permit up to four centers statewide to be open.Source: Nashua Telegraph, The (Nashua, NH)Author: Kevin LandriganPublished: July 20, 2013Copyright: 2013 Telegraph Publishing CompanyContact: letters nashuatelegraph.comWebsite: http://www.nashuatelegraph.comURL: http://drugsense.org/url/rkiWH2RHCannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #3 posted by Sam Adams on July 21, 2013 at 18:07:40 PT
3 different tiers of bull****
Wow, have to admire their creativity, they've come up with even more, new ways to limit medical cannabis use! Pharma is going to have some extra cash for these guys in the next bribe envelope!I like the "3 tiers". Sort of like the Holy Trinity of our oppressive government: local, state, federal. Bullshit comes in 3 different size bags!What an awful, disgracefully cruel law. Shame on these people. The first thing a sick person should do is stay as far from this "law" as they can. Try your family and friends and you'll get a lot more help that your doctor & government folks.
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Comment #2 posted by museman on July 21, 2013 at 16:14:29 PT
HempWorld
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Comment #1 posted by HempWorld on July 21, 2013 at 15:47:57 PT
What? "A tenant may only use medical marijuana if 
the owner permits it"Does the law mean the owner of the tenant or the owner of the building?I guess you mean the former, we are just slaves of ye old tobacco plantation republic, I guess. Not much has changed.Ok, "even then may not smoke it anywhere that would be in violation of the terms of the lease"Yeah, right, like if you sign a lease and become a medicinal marijuana user, you suddenly do not have to abide by the lease. This is panic-legislation in tune with reefer madness.I suggest that all medicinal marijuana users also no longer own a hammer or a butchers knife, baseball bat, etc. etc."patients may use the drug despite those lease terms if the marijuana is eaten or inhaled through vapors."Oh really? I guess they will put this in the lease as of now, as, forbidden activities.
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