Medical Marijuana Passes Senate

Medical marijuana is a step closer to reality for people suffering from serious diseases and health problems in New Hampshire. The state Senate voted 18-6 on Thursday to pass a medical marijuana bill.

The bill is an amended version of the House-passed bill. If the House doesn't concur with the changes, leadership in each chamber will pick members to sit on a committee of conference to iron out differences in the legislation. The House passed the bill for "use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes" by a commanding 286-64 vote back in March.

Sen. John Reagan (R-Deerfield), a sponsor of the bill, said the bill would bring New Hampshire in level with 17 other states, including neighboring Vermont and Maine, with similar laws.

The Senate version does not feature an allowance for a qualified patient to grow up to three mature marijuana plants – the removal of that language was, in part, to win over Gov. Maggie Hassan's support for the legislation, senators said.

Hassan supported medical marijuana bills when she served in the state Senate. As governor, she expressed support, but has said she wants a tightly-written bill.

After the House and Senate resolve their differences over the bill, Matt Simon, a legislative analyst in New Hampshire for the Marijuana Policy Project, said the legislation will give patients much-needed relief.

"We applaud the senators for adopting this compassionate and much-needed legislation despite its imperfections," Simon said in a statement. "Those suffering from debilitating medical conditions deserve safe and legal access to medical marijuana, and the Senate has once again clearly indicated its support for patients."

Other sponsors of the bill include: Rep. Donna Schlachman (D-Exeter), Rep. Sylvia Gale (D-Nashua), Rep. Don Lebrun (R-Nashua), Rep. Patricia Lovejoy (D-Stratham), Rep. Andrew Renzullo (R-Hudson), and Sen. Martha Fuller Clark (D-Portsmouth).

The amended bill includes four alternative treatment centers which would, after being approved and registered with the state, be authorized to acquire, possess, cultivate, manufacture, deliver, transfer, transport, sell, supply and dispense cannabis – as well as related supplies – to qualifying patients and treatment centers.

A qualified patient would have to have at least a three-month medical relationship with a licensed provider.

Qualifying medical conditions, according to the Senate amendment, include: severely debilitating or terminal medical conditions, cancer, glaucoma, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, hepatitis C currently receiving antiviral treatment, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, Crohn’s disease, agitation of Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, chronic pancreatitis, spinal cord injury or disease, traumatic brain injury, or one or more injuries that significantly interferes with daily activities as documented by the patient’s provider.

A qualified patient would not be subject to arrest by state or local law enforcement for possession of up to two ounces of usable cannabis and any amount of cannabis considered unusable. There are similar protections for qualified caregivers and medical professionals.

It would be restricted to New Hampshire residents only and no health care providers would be required to participate in the program, said Sen. Martha Fuller Clark (D-Portsmouth). She said cannabis has been shown to provide relief from pain and suffering for patients in severe medical situations. 

"This bill has had the benefit of being able to look to all of the surrounding states in terms of legislation that was previously passed, going all the way back to Maine 15 years ago," Fuller Clark said. "And the result of that is this is probably one of the tightest, best bills moving on the use of marijuana or cannabis forward."

Of the six senators opposing the bill as amended and passed, Russell Prescott (R-Kingston) said he wanted a more restrictive bill to draw a stark line between when cannabis is a drug or used as a medicine. To that end, he offered an amendment for vaporizer or dosing distribution, but the Senate quickly rejected the amendment.

The Senate bill as amended is attached here as a PDF document.