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That Other Bill

by: Dean Barker

Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 06:12:30 AM EDT

Pretty huge, imo:

CONCORD - Chronically and terminally ill patients would be able to use marijuana to ease their pain under a bill the Senate passed yesterday.
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.

I have a personal preference to keep my mind as free from control as possible from chemicals, and an almost Nancy Reagan-esque intolerance for illegal drugs.

But I've also seen the inside of a chemotherapy ward. Doing what we can to relieve pain for the chronically or terminally ill is no-brainer.

And as for that other "other" bill, on transgender discrimination, I'm sorry that, with the notable exception of Terie Norelli, John H. Sununu's fraudulent "bathroom" garbage rhetoric was allowed to go unchallenged prior to the vote, and that one of the most vulnerable constituencies in society will continue to be so.

This, though, after the fact, is encouraging:

Co-sponsor Sen. Martha Fuller Clark, D-Portsmouth, said opponents "shamefully sought to distract us from the real issue of discrimination and violence, bringing the debate literally to the toilet."
..."Shame on you," said Sen. Jacalyn Cilley, D-Barrington, as she accused opponents of "political posturing and gamesmanship."

Dean Barker :: That Other Bill

Tags: HB648, (All Tags)

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That Other Bill | 6 comments

You don't mention what the transgendered are vulnerable to, Dean. (0.00 / 0)

I've left some thoughts on the Cilley thread.

We keep forgetting that many/most people are antagonistic to social dicta out of self-interest. And we also forget that for some people "the best defense is a good offense" and their offensive behavior masks something they want to hide.

We tend to assume that segregated populations are abused because they are segregated. What if they are segregated to make them easier to abuse? You know, like a lion cutting a baby buffalo out of the herd.

by: hannah @ Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 05:44:13 AM CDT

The UL endorsed the medical marijuana bill, IIRC (4.00 / 2)

And one Republican Senator voted for it.

It would be over-simplifying to say the the NH GOP is to the right of the UL, but still...

by: elwood @ Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 05:49:25 AM CDT

Bravo for a courageous vote (4.00 / 2)

I feel my glaucoma kicking up already ...

by: JimC @ Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 07:11:33 AM CDT

If there's one thing terminally ill patients love, (4.00 / 2)

It's having to grow their own medicine. Californians don't have to do that.

by: This Was The Moment @ Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 07:53:46 AM CDT

this was a good vote (4.00 / 3)

It's unsurprising that the party once known for "compassionate conservatism" has no compassion for the chronically and terminally ill.

I'll be writing a thank you to Senator Gallus today, for cosponsoring this bill, and braving the wrath of his party. Of course my thanks also go to Representative Evalyn Merrick, who has the same kind of cancer that my husband does. Compassion is alive and well in the north country.

by: susanthe @ Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 08:12:31 AM CDT

One Old Senator and Hepatitis C (4.00 / 2)

Me. I was facing another awful 24 weeks of treatment for Hep C. Interferon and Ribavirin and another drug under clinical trial. Like many others, I might well have quit treatment and just taking my chances.
Marijuana can help people heal and stay on treatment.
The governor's idea of limiting it to hospitals would raise HHS spending by millions. Patients now stay in their homes, medical marijuana would cost the state nothing. The governor needs to hear from patients and family members. And police who don't want to have to arrest patients.

by: BurtCohen @ Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 08:29:04 AM CDT

That Other Bill | 6 comments