New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan on Tuesday signed a new medical marijuana bill into law, officially making her state the 19th to allow doctors to prescribe the drug.
State lawmakers in both legislative houses overwhelmingly
approved the new law in June, and Gov. Hassan said she would sign
the bill, thereby making New Hampshire the last state in New
England to legalize medical marijuana.
“Allowing doctors to provide relief to patients through the
use of appropriately regulated and dispensed medical marijuana is
the compassionate and right policy for the state of New
Hampshire, and this legislation ensures that we approach this
policy in the right way with measures to prevent abuse,”
Hassan said in a statement.
The measure permits patients with “chronic or terminal disease”
or “debilitating medical conditions” to obtain prescriptions for
marijuana. Under the new law, these patients will be
allowed to possess up to 2 ounces of the drug, which they would
have to obtain from a nonprofit marijuana dispensary.
“This legislation is long overdue and comes as a relief to the
many seriously ill patients throughout New Hampshire who will
benefit from safe access to medical marijuana,” Matt Simon, a
New Hampshire-based legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy
Project, said in a statement. “Those suffering from
debilitating conditions like cancer and multiple sclerosis
deserve legal, safe and reliable access to medical
marijuana.”
An initial version of the bill would have allowed patients to
grow their own marijuana at home, but Gov. Hassan successfully
removed that provision. And to prevent patients from going
“doctor shopping” to find one that will prescribe the drug, the
law requires patients to obtain the prescription from a medical
provider that they have been seeing for at least 90 days. That
provision ensures that patients have tried other remedies and
exhibited ongoing symptoms before resorting to marijuana use.
The new law allows for the licensing of up to four marijuana
dispensaries, each of which can grow a maximum of 80 marijuana
plants and possess 80 ounces of marijuana, or 6 ounces per
patient.
“By providing strong regulatory oversight and clear dispensing
guidelines, this bill addresses many of the concerns that were
expressed throughout the legislative process,” the governor
said. “[The bill] legalizes the use of medical marijuana in a
way that makes sense for the state of New Hampshire and gives
health providers another option to help New Hampshire’s seriously
ill patients.”
Last year, the Republican-led New Hampshire legislature approved
a similar bill, but it was vetoed by former Democratic Gov. John
Lynch, who argued that the measure did not provide adequate
restrictions on marijuana cultivation and prescription. Lynch
contended that under the proposed law, patients would be able to
obtain a prescription without seriously needing it, and abuse the
drug.
But New Hampshire’s new medical marijuana bill has addressed some
of the issues that troubled the former governor, and the
provisions will gradually go into effect over the next few
months.
Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania are
currently considering similar measures.
“The vast majority of Americans recognize the medical benefits
of marijuana and believe people with serious illnesses should
have safe and legal access to it,” Simon said. “We applaud
our elected officials for enacting a law to protect patients, and
we hope legislators in other states will follow suit.”
Republished from: RT