New Hampshire MMJ

This one is a little different, but it is about the same thing (It just came out today.
Cheers!
http://unionleader.com/article.aspx...rticleId=7e2bf89a-36b6-4f5a-b144-f3de2428bac6


Panel backs medical marijuana use in NH



By TOM FAHEY
State House Bureau Chief

CONCORD – A bill allowing severely ill patients to grow and use marijuana for medicinal purposes has won a 13-7 vote in the House Health and Human Services Committee.
The bill, HB 648, heads to the full House for a vote next week. Two Republicans joined the Democratic majority in support of the bill.
The bill requires patients to be certified by a doctor before they can grow or possess up to six plants or two ounces of marijuana. They or a caregiver can grow the plants, and a patient is given the option of obtaining marijuana from another certified patient.
Thirteen other states have medical marijuana bills on the books. In the past month, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has said federal policy will shift, giving states more leeway to pass and enforce their own medical marijuana laws. Federal emphasis will move from raids on marijuana clinics and onto distributors who violate state and federal laws, he said.
Two years ago, the New Hampshire House defeated a medical marijuana bill by nine votes, 186-177.
Committee Chair Rep. Cindy Rosenwald, D-Nashua, said this bill improves on all the shortcomings she saw two years ago. She termed HB 648, "a narrowly written, tightly focused, well-crafted bill." Supporters of the bill said it offers hope to those with a debilitating chronic or terminal illnesses. In many cases treatments for illnesses such as cancer or HIV, create nausea that weakens patients at a time when they need strength to survive. Proponents say it eases pain and can increase appetite in ways that manufactured drugs cannot.
Bill sponsor Rep. Evalyn Merrick, D-Lancaster, said after the committee vote, "It's a compassion bill. It's to help the seriously ill and terminally ill patients who have not been able to find relief from the symptoms and side effects of their diseases or treatments through legal therapeutic pharmaceuticals ... It gives them an option." Gov. John Lynch's press secretary Colin Manning said Lynch is not sold on the bill.
"The governor has concerns about the bill," he said. "It is in conflict with federal law and he will continue talk to lawmakers as well as law enforcement and medical community about it."
Opponents said the bill runs counter to federal law and represents the beginning of what will become the unwinding of state drug laws. It is opposed by law enforcement, including the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police.
Rep. John Cebrowski, R-Bedford, said illegal drugs are already a national problem.
"I refuse to be part of something which exacerbates that," he said. By leaving patients to find or grow their own supply, he said, the bill "takes a pure gray-market, back-alley approach to health care."
Matt Simon of N.H. Common Sense said he worries restrictions on access could make things difficult for patients. On the other hand, he said, "only people who need it will be able to get it."
Rep. Roger Wells, R-Hampstead, who voted to recommend the bill, said the bill has enough protections built into it that it will prevent abuse.
"People who are suffering, at least in our state of New Hampshire, ought not to be called criminals," he said.
Rep. Peter Batula, R-Merrimack, argued the committee acted against the best advice of national drug experts.
"There is no right way to do the wrong thing," he said.