CONCORD - New Hampshire House and Senate negotiators reached agreement Tuesday on legislation legalizing the use of marijuana for seriously ill patients. The bill, pending final approval of the committee of conference agreement by the full House and Senate next week, will be on its way to Gov. Maggie Hassan's desk, where, she said, she will sign it into law. At the insistence of the governor and the law enforcement community, a "home-grow" option was removed by the Senate from the bill originally passed by the House. [continues 1080 words]
CONCORD - Supporters far outnumbered opponents of legislation that would legalize "therapeutic cannabis," the term for medical marijuana, at a state Senate committee hearing Thursday. The Attorney General's Office dropped the opposition it had previously voiced to the bill. Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Woodcock told the Senate Health, Education and Human Services Committee the office is ready to work with lawmakers and the medical community to craft a final bill with tight controls. The New Hampshire Medical Society did not oppose the bill outright, but suggested a five-year study, prompting state Sen. John Reagan, R-Deerfield, a chief supporter of the bill, to accuse the society following the hearing of "doing anything to try to delay it." [continues 783 words]
The federal government has seized more than $3 million in proceeds of the 2005 sale of the former Lakes Region Greyhound Park from its former owners, citing a drug money-laundering operation that was run at the track in 2003 and 2004. Moving under the broad powers of a federal drug money forfeiture statute, the Justice Department has essentially frozen $3.3 million paid for the track by Marlin Torguson, who re-opened the facility as The Lodge at Belmont and is not involved in the case. The money was escrowed and has yet to be paid to various members of the Hart family and Vincent DiCesare of Massachusetts. [continues 1068 words]
Republican state Sen. Frank Sapareto heads a list of six legislators who have signed onto a letter to thousands of Granite Staters seeking support for the legalization of medical marijuana. Others on the Medical Marijuana Advocates' letter include Democratic state Reps. Jane Clemons of Nashua, Edgar Mears of Berlin, McKim Mitchell of Chesterfield and Jim Splaine of Portsmouth, as well as Republican Rep. Steve Vaillancourt of Manchester. The letter solicits contributions and outlines questions recipients should ask the candidates. Sapareto said he has no problem being involved in a campaign to heighten awareness of the issue, even if it is directed at Presidential candidates of the other party. [continues 55 words]
Of all the special interest groups so far involved in the primary campaign, advocates of medical marijuana ("MM" for short) have been the most active and most visible --to this point, at least. We reported on Marijuana Policy Project's Granite State chapter about a month ago, but since then, local coordinator Aaron Houston has been everywhere, it seems, trying to get the candidates on the record. A recent Houston press release was headlined, "Sen. Kerry Tells Seriously Ill Patient, `I'm in favor of Medical Marijuana.' " [continues 450 words]
Nationally, Howard Dean is viewed as being on the liberal side of the Democratic Presidential spectrum. But a group often seen as part of the liberal constituency, advocates of legalized medical marijuana, isn't happy with him. Bruce Mirken, spokesman for the Medical Marijuana Project (www.mpp.org) blames Dean for effectively killing legislation to legalize marijuana for medical purposes last year. A bill passed the Vermont House and, according to Mirken, "was stalled in the Senate due to the arm-twisting" by the then-Gov. Dean. A compromise bill set up a task force to study the issue, and according to Mirken, "punted the whole issue for a year." [continues 96 words]
