NH Senate Approves Medical MJ Bill

[Paregoric Kid]

hopefully medical marijuana will pass in PA and NJ.
Medical Marijuana Good News from New Hampshire

Brian Doherty (http://www.reason.com/staff/hitandrun/132.html) | April 30, 2009, 4:41pm
The live free or die, Free State Project (http://www.reason.com/news/show/36415.html) state of New Hampshire's Senate passes a decent medical marijuana bill. Details from the Marijuana Policy Project (http://www.mpp.org/states/new-hampshire/news/medical-marijuana-yes-14-10.html):
Critically and terminally ill patients would be able to use marijuana to ease their pain under a bill the Senate passed today.
By a 14-10 vote, the Senate approved House Bill 648, which allows patients with approval from both their doctors and the state to have up to two ounces and six plants of marijuana. The law allows a patient to designate one caregiver to grow or possess marijuana for them. They can also obtain the drug from another certified patient.
The bill also sets up a commission to study whether the state should create a system for distributing medicinal marijuana, and the issues that state involvement would raise....
If the bill becomes law, New Hampshire would become the 14th state to legalize medicinal use of marijuana, joining Maine, Rhode Island and Vermont among others.
Still, our president, no stranger to the bong (http://reason.tv/video/show/705.html), remains dismissive (http://www.reason.com/blog/show/132508.html) of the natural next step: full legalization.

[Black_Pony]

Hey, another good step in the right direction. Its good to see progress being made with regards to legislation around this country. The past many years have felt like moving backwards, or in the very least stagnation. Maybe this is a sign of a bigger upcoming change in public opinion? I hope so!

[lilred0005]

Wow, this is awesome news! It's easy to see the progressive state's stance & it is to be lauded. Notice not too many Red states for MMJ. When, if ever, is the drug war going to gain common sense? The notion of cracking down on critically ill ppl for trying to ease their pain is absolutely disgusting. It is good to hear that 14 states no longer persecute these individuals. One extremely progressive step for pallative care would be the legalization of heroin for care in the term. ill. This has been mentioned several times in the last few yrs in both the U.S. & Canada. Even the word heroin has such a negative connotation that I doubt this will ever happen.

[insanesteveo]

unless its medical marijuana in the way that california has medical marijuana, not just for the terminally ill, i dont think its that big of a deal. you say a step in the right direction, i say false hope. so it can be prescribed for terminally ill patients, big deal. its not going to make it any easier to get or any less illegal to buy or possess without a prescription, just like pills.

now what i have so much hope for is when states DECRIMINALIZE it. that is what gets my hopes up. i think all drugs should be decriminalized the way marijuana is in certain states. for instance in nebraska if you get pulled over with pot and a pipe its a civil citation. they confiscate your stuff, give you a $150 fine, and send you on your way.

they only up side to medical marijuana i see for the rest of us is if it can be prescribed for anything and then you can buy it legally at a store. and even better, grow your own.

[Paregoric Kid]

actually New Hampshire is a red state, is mainly republican (old school not neo-con) and libertarian instead of leftist/progressive. check out the free state project. and I love the state motto, Live Free or Die. but it is always nice to see legalization pass no matter what political group accomplishes it.
of course it isn't the best possible law but it is likely it could change. full legalization may never happen on a federal level. there are several states that have decriminalized possession under a certain amount, MA is one of those states I can't remember the others but look it up if you're interested. if they wouldn't have included some of the restrictions into the bill it probably wouldn't have passed. and these are the people who need access to cannabis the most so I don't see how someone can say that this is a bad thing.

[insanesteveo]

im not saying its a bad things, i just think its not as good as everyone makes it out to be. i think people believe that since this happened that marijuana will be legal outright in a few years, and i just dont see that happening at all.