That Other Bill That Passed and the Governor

I called about both bills today (0.00 / 0)

and it took about 55 seconds total...  Make sure the governor makes the right choice on both of these bills!

"[Brinck Slattery is a] political attack dog for hire" =Ray Buckley

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by: Brinck Slattery @ Thu May 07, 2009 at 13:21:18 PM CDT

Thanks for the reminder on this (0.00 / 0)

what is the deal with Ayotte? The more I see of what she does the less impressed I am.

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by: beverlywoods @ Thu May 07, 2009 at 21:25:19 PM CDT

I don't understand (4.00 / 2)

I'm a little confused, what is wrong with requiring a prescription for marijuana, like is required for any strong pain medication? There is a significant difference between ginsing or fish oil and pot, why not treat it like a controlled substance?



"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

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by: Kathy Sullivan 2 @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 06:04:05 AM CDT

What? Now I am going to need a prescription for fish oil and genseng? (0.00 / 0)

This discussion seems to be going in the wrong direction. I used to take this natural substance to improve my memory as well but I forgot where I put it - still grumpy.

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by: xteeth @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 06:51:06 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

To improve your reading, Mr. Grumpy! (4.00 / 1)

Burt said you don't need a prescription for fish oil or ginseng, why do you need one for pot? I am saying, there is a difference between those two and pot.  I didn't say you should get a prescription for fish oil; that would be ridiculous. I am saying I don't know why getting a prescription for a pain medication is unacceptable. Marijuana may be a plant, but it is not spinach.

One of the problems proponents of medical marijuana face is the notion that it is a guise for people who aren't sick to get pot legally. Requiring a prescription takes care of that problem, doesn't it?  



"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

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by: Kathy Sullivan 2 @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 07:45:25 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Prescriptions (4.00 / 3)

Doctors cannot prescribe marijuana because it is misclassified at the federal level as a Schedule I controlled substance.  That will hopefully change (finally) under the Obama administration, but seriously ill patients who need marijuana today cannot afford to wait.

The DEA has refused to consider rescheduling marijuana (even when its own administrative law judge, Francis Young, ruled in 1988 that it should do so), and that is why 13 states got fed up and passed their own laws protecting patients from arrest if their doctors recommend marijuana.

The "written certification" required by HB 648 would be like a prescription, except pharmacies cannot dispense marijuana.  The physician's recommendation instead entitles the patient to a state-issued ID card that protects him or her from arrest... as long as he or she is within the legal limits of 6 plants, two ounces.  This system isn't perfect, but it works well enough in other states, and the bottom line is that seriously ill patients shouldn't have to live in fear of arrest.

Executive Director, NH Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy

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by: Matt Simon @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 08:20:32 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Now who didn't get the joke? (4.00 / 3)

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by: xteeth @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 08:54:49 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Ms. Grumpy? :) n/t (0.00 / 0)

"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

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by: Kathy Sullivan 2 @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 09:15:44 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

pot needs to be reclassified (0.00 / 0)

but that's a whole 'nother issue.

I've heard Lynch is in favor of using hospitals as the agent for distributing medical marijuana. This is bad on many levels, but two of the most important:

1. Not everyone has access to a nearby hospital. The further north you go, the more that is true.

2. Anything coming from a hospital pharmacy is going to be twice as expensive as it needs to be. Hospitals are corporate for-profit entities these days - no matter how they pretend otherwise.

 

sanctimonious purist/professional lefty

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by: susanthe @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 08:58:21 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Pharmacy (0.00 / 0)

What pharmacy isn't a corporate for-profit entity?

Rite Aid, Hannafords, Stop and Shop, Walgreens, Wal-Mart?

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by: sdoyle @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 10:04:55 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

If you go back and reread (0.00 / 0)

perhaps you'll get the point I was trying to make.  

sanctimonious purist/professional lefty

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by: susanthe @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 12:29:51 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Also... (0.00 / 0)

If it comes from a hospital, and we one day end up saddled with another Republican president who declares he's going to demand marijuana possession be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, then the hospitals are easy targets, and the hospitals can figure this out, too. They would be less likely to stock medical marijuana, making it even harder for sick people to procure. Individuals would care more about the immediate benefits of cannabis treatment and would be less prone to worry about a future policy change, so would be more prone to taking advantage immediately.

Only the left protects anyone's rights.

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by: RealNRH @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 12:17:44 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

hospitals (0.00 / 0)

As long as marijuana is misclassified under Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, it will never be possible for marijuana to be distributed by hospitals.  For the same reason, marijuana can never be "prescribed," only "recommended."

Several states have now added "compassion centers" to their medical marijuana laws.  These non-profits seem to be working well so far, and that is one thing the study committee (if created) should look at, but it probably isn't feasible to locate them all over the state.  For patients who are able to cultivate their own plants, this must be a legal option as it is in 13 other states (including Maine and Vermont).

Executive Director, NH Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy

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by: Matt Simon @ Sat May 09, 2009 at 06:41:51 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Ahead of ourselves (0.00 / 0)

HB 648 hasn't passed yet.  The House nonconcurred and requested a conference committee.  Reps Rosenwald, Bridgham, E.Merrick, and Welch are the House members on the committee.

There are two more votes (one each in the House and the Senate) to go through before the bill reaches the Governor's desk assuming the conference committee can reach an agreement.


It's a round, round world - Stan Freberg

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by: NHFlatlander @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 09:47:55 AM CDT

Well, it couldn't (0.00 / 0)

be in better hands from the House side.

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by: Jennifer Daler @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 09:59:42 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Expect the senate (0.00 / 0)

to be good too. It passed solidly. Sen pres knows.
Eyes remain on the gov.

No'm Sayn?

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by: BurtCohen @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 10:06:23 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

reason for nonconcurrence (0.00 / 0)

As the Telegraph reported Thursday, the House nonconcurred because Lynch informed Chairman Rosenwald that he would veto the bill as written.  Changes from the version the House passed were minor.

Executive Director, NH Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy

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by: Matt Simon @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 11:08:06 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

I talked to him about it today. (4.00 / 1)

Driving through Concord, looking for a parking space I had to double back around the Statehouse to get back to Main St. to avoid a U-turn which once cost me $100. fine !!

I noticed a scrum outside the LOB and at the light I saw the Governor standing in the Street talking to some reporters. They had just finished the annual ceremony to honor Law Enforcement officials at their monument on the lawn. I parked and walked over and he cordially spoke with me for a few moments.(you gotta love NH ...in NYS I couldn't get within 100 yards of the Gov because of security cordon)
It was he( he told me) who asked for a study committee on distribution...I can tell you from what I've heard that 6 plants is a lot more than two ounces, and the bill as presented had no real clear or easily enforceable mechanism for distribution to those who have a prescription, card or whatever we want to call the approval process.
This is really silly. We have prescription Oxycontin, morphine, and cocaine, with subsequent risk of abuses of each, up to addiction, overdose and death. They are all legal if prescribed.
Cannabis has never been proven to be addictive, nor is there even one case(disprove if you can) of an overdose death ever in the annals of medicine, or law enforcement

It may make you stupid, hungry, lazy, and lack ambition, all real detriments, but if it is medically proven to help cancer patients with their appetites, or chronic pain sufferers like the women from Allentown in the video...study it, and FIX IT. My impression in talking with John is that is where this will go. It may take time, but it is humane and rational and so is he.

for transparency sake ~I represent Union print shops

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by: JonnyBBad @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 22:48:59 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

There have been a lot of people saying (4.00 / 2)

"Now is the time" about HB 436, and I think that we owe it to people who can be thrown in a jail cell for taking medicine they need to survive to say "now is the time" for HB 648 as well.

"[Brinck Slattery is a] political attack dog for hire" =Ray Buckley

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by: Brinck Slattery @ Fri May 08, 2009 at 23:54:38 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

We Sometimes Adopt Repentent Republicans (0.00 / 0)

...and you might be eligible if you change a bit more.  You've been very helpful on both these important causes.  Sure you're in the correct party?  

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by: Rep. Jim Splaine @ Sat May 09, 2009 at 07:59:27 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

study it? (4.00 / 2)

Thanks for talking to the Gov., Jonny.  

This bill is focused on protecting seriously ill patients from arrest, not creating the perfect distribution program, but we loved the fact that the Senate HHS Committee added the study committee.  It is extremely difficult to grow marijuana indoors unless you really know what you are doing.  If you're growing from seeds, each plant has a 50% chance of coming up male, which means it will not produce any "usable marijuana" at all. Grow-Your-Own is a bad option for many patients, especially those whose need for medical marijuana arises suddenly, as with cancer patients who find that they need it to endure chemotherapy.

Still, many patients with chronic diseases (MS is a good example) are capable of producing their own marijuana supply, at minimal cost to themselves and no cost to the state.  13 states permit this for qualifying patients and, in some cases, their caregivers.  Why should we force patients (many of whom are on fixed incomes) to buy something they might be able to grow for themselves?  A Schedule I substance can't be distributed by hospitals or pharmacies, so most of the optimal solutions will be impossible until federal policy changes.

In the meantime, these patients are not criminals, and they should not have to live in fear of arrest and jail.  Let's not let the perfect become the enemy of the good.

Executive Director, NH Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy

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by: Matt Simon @ Sat May 09, 2009 at 06:33:37 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

I like the California model (4.00 / 1)

license the production(fees)...and control the distro(fees) regulate stores,...then like any other medicine, you get a script, go to the store, and the amount you can buy is controlled by law. Computers are a wonderful thing...you would be allowed only as much, by law, as your Dr. prescribes, and every purchase would be recorded. That way both quality and quantity are known.

for transparency sake ~I represent Union print shops

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by: JonnyBBad @ Sat May 09, 2009 at 07:27:24 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Ready For Passage (4.00 / 1)

This bill is ready for passage.  You, Matt, Burt Cohen, the Merricks, and so many others have worked for so long to make this happen.  If the Governor's Office has a "problem" with some wording that can be corrected in the Committee of Conference now going on.  But this should pass.  Thanks for your work on this cause.  You're helping a lot of lives.  

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by: Rep. Jim Splaine @ Sat May 09, 2009 at 08:01:51 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

thanks, Jim! (0.00 / 0)

kind of you to say so

Executive Director, NH Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy

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by: Matt Simon @ Sat May 09, 2009 at 18:14:36 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Churchill was right. (4.00 / 1)

...democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.

Current marijuana law is the product of political cowardice.  I can't stand the smell, but neither do I enjoy being downwind of tobacco, which is actually dangerous.

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by: This Was The Moment @ Sat May 09, 2009 at 02:13:11 AM CDT

booze (4.00 / 2)

Leading to decrepitude, one of the most dangerous of drugs is alcohol, because like tobacco it is 'legal' and destructive. Go to any college campus on a weekend(which start Thursday night, and last till Sunday night) and see the future.... a nation on compromisedlivers...

I believe we are seeing a crisis unfold in America of untold Alcoholism. Binge drinking is 'legal' destructive and worse, socially acceptable at every level of academia.

On a college tour at Colby a few years ago it struck me...our lovely young guide stopped by The Pub in the student center and it was to her clearly the most important part of the tour. Parents were aghast when she gushed about how they line up for their 21st birthdays, "Its the most popular place on the campus".
Our young folks drink to get drunk on a regular basis.
Funnels anyone ?

for transparency sake ~I represent Union print shops

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by: JonnyBBad @ Sat May 09, 2009 at 07:34:32 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

We all know the truth so (4.00 / 1)

Can anybody PLEASE get to the governor?

No'm Sayn?

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by: BurtCohen @ Sat May 09, 2009 at 19:27:28 PM CDT

[ Parent ]