Pubdate: Wed, 1 Jul 2009
Source: Union Leader (Manchester, NH)
Copyright: 2009 The Union Leader Corp.
Contact:  http://www.theunionleader.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/761
Note: Out-of-state letters are seldom published
Author: Tom Fahey, State House Bureau Chief
Cited: The New Hampshire Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy 
http://nhcommonsense.org/
Referenced: The TV ad video http://nhcompassion.org/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

LYNCH AT CENTER OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA FIGHT

CONCORD - With the battle over a state budget now over, activists are 
fighting over whether Gov. John Lynch should sign a medical marijuana 
bill into law.

Conservatives are urging Lynch to veto HB 648, while those who favor 
more liberal marijuana policies are urging him to pass it.

The bill calls for three-nonprofit "compassion centers" that would be 
licensed to grow and distribute marijuana to critically and 
terminally ill patients, who must be certified by the state and their 
own doctor.

Lynch said yesterday he is reviewing a copy of the 20-page bill that 
Senate and House members negotiated over the past month, but said he 
has reached no decision.

The Secretary of State's office has still not received the finished 
bill from legislative lawyers. The bill needs the signatures of 
Speaker of the House Terie Norelli and Senate President Sylvia Larsen 
before it goes to Lynch. If he signs the bill, New Hampshire would 
join 13 other states that enacted laws allowing medicinal use of marijuana.

The final version of the bill passed by more than a two-thirds margin 
in the House, 232-108, and by a party-line, 14-10 vote in the Senate.

Republicans who voted against the bill argued that it will put police 
in a tough spot. They are sworn to uphold all state and federal laws, 
yet state marijuana law will require them to allow certified patients 
to violate federal law.

The conservative Cornerstone Policy Research group is calling on 
Lynch to veto the bill on fiscal concerns, saying it will cost the 
state too much money at a time when budget dollars are already 
stretched too thinly.

A legislative fiscal note said the bill will cost $250,000. However, 
the bill states that the program must be self-funded, using license 
and permit fees to cover all its costs.

Matt Simon of the N.H. Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy 
said Cornerstone did not follow the bill through the process, and 
missed important changes that eliminated the bill's impact on the budget.

He said the bill was carefully crafted to meet all Lynch's concerns, 
especially his demand that dispensation and distribution of marijuana 
be a secure process.

"We feel we've done a good job and we hope Gov. Lynch will do the 
right thing," Simon said.

NH Common Sense has launched a TV ad campaign, its second of the 
year, calling on Lynch to sign the bill. It features cancer survivor 
Dennis Acton of Fremont, recounting how the use of marijuana 
alleviated nausea he suffered during chemotherapy.

Acton says in the 30-second ad, "I hope Gov. Lynch will have the 
courage to step forward and sign this bill into law." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake