Pubdate: Thu, 25 Jun 2009
Source: Telegraph, The (Nashua, NH)
Copyright: 2009 Telegraph Publishing Company
Contact:  http://www.nashuatelegraph.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/885
Author: Kevin Landrigan

AFTER LAWMAKERS' OK, MARIJUANA BILL GOES TO LYNCH

CONCORD -- With little controversy, the New Hampshire  Legislature 
sought to make this the 14th state to give  the chronically ill 
access to marijuana to relieve  their suffering.

The House of Representatives approved the latest  compromise late 
Wednesday, 232-108. The state Senate  endorsed it, 14-10.

But the bill (HB 648) still faces its stiffest test  from three-term 
Democratic Gov. John Lynch, who has yet  to say whether he can accept 
a new compromise.

Lynch told reporters his biggest concern was an earlier  bill that 
made it too easy for residents to cultivate  marijuana, a substance 
that would remain illegal to  possess under federal criminal law.

"I will be reading it very carefully with that as my  guide," Lynch said.

Earlier this month, Lynch told legislative supporters  that he would 
have vetoed a bill that allowed residents  or designated caregivers 
to grow their own marijuana.

House and Senate leaders spent the past three weeks  trying to 
address the Lynch-cited shortcomings. The  compromise would create 
three, nonprofit "compassion  centers" where patients and caregivers 
could obtain  marijuana.

Sen. Peggy Gilmour, D-Hollis, had worked on the  compromise and is a 
co-founder of the state's first  hospice for the terminally ill.

"We have constructed the most restrictive law in the  land," Gilmour 
said. "Our committee worked very hard to  take every concern the 
governor had and try to  ameliorate them."

Rep. Cindy Rosenwald, D-Nashua, chaired the  House-Senate working 
group that produced a rewritten  bill.

But Rep. David Hess, R-Hooksett, a former state  prosecutor, said the 
bill makes it impossible for local  law enforcement to report on 
illegal pot users to  federal authorities.

"This legislation before us puts our local and state  law enforcement 
officers in an impossible situation,"  Hess said. "It requires them 
to violate their oath to  uphold the laws and regulations of the 
United States of  America."

He also quarreled with the fact that compassion centers  had to be at 
least 500 feet from a school, only half  the distance of federally 
designated drug-free school  zones.

State Rep. Daniel Eaton, D-Stoddard, said passing the  bill is the 
humane thing to do.

"Sick individuals should be called patients and not  criminals," 
Eaton said. "Our friends, our neighbors  going through the darkest, 
most painful hours of their  lives should be afforded the same 
compassion and relief  as residents in 13 other states."

Among issues Lynch and his staff raised were whether  the definition 
of eligible patients was too broad, if  there should be criminal 
background checks for all  caregivers and if the bill compels 
landlords to rent to  patients or caregivers who grow or possess marijuana.

Under the bill, a person with a "debilitating medical  condition" or 
designated caregiver could obtain up to  two ounces of marijuana.

Attorney General Kelly Ayotte and nine of the state's  10 county 
attorneys oppose the bill because possessing  marijuana violates federal law.

States that now allow medical marijuana include Maine,  Rhode Island 
and Vermont.

The compromise makes clear that it remains against the  law to drive 
a car or boat under the influence of  marijuana or to smoke in public 
and that no health  insurer can be compelled to cover the cost of its use.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart