Truth Seeker
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Gov. John Lynch did the responsible thing last week when he vetoed a bill to legalize the home cultivation of marijuana for medical purposes.
It marks the second time the governor has vetoed such legislation. Specifically the bill would have permitted patients with debilitating medical conditions or their designated caretaker to grow and possess a limited amount of marijuana which the bill's supporters say can be a safe and effective treatment for the symptoms of cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, pain, glaucoma, epilepsy, and other conditions.
In his veto message Thursday, Lynch said he was mindful of those "that suffer from debilitating medical conditions who wish to use marijuana to help alleviate their symptoms and the side effects of medical treatment." But the governor said his empathy for those who suffer could not outweigh the fear the bill contained no effective safeguards to prevent locally cultivated marijuana from getting into the hands of those who have no legitimate medical need for it.
We hope the valid concerns Lynch raises in his veto message will persuade lawmakers to vote against any attempt to override the governor's veto.
While the bill is different in some ways from a medical marijuana bill which the Legislature passed, but Lynch vetoed, in 2009, there is nothing in this latest version restricting the number of cultivation sites. Further, it puts the lion's share of supervision on the state Department of Health and Human Services which has neither the staff nor the budget to adequately oversee a program so fraught with problems and a tempting target for those bent on crime.
Medical marijuana has long been caught in a Catch-22 of federal regulations. A drug can't be approved for use without evidence of its effectiveness and risks, but marijuana's status as a Schedule I controlled substance meant it could not be studied. That's absurd; much more dangerous drugs, including cocaine and opiates, are recognized for medical use, and doctors can consult a wealth of evidence about when they are appropriate.
But the best the medical establishment can say about marijuana "despite widespread therapeutic use in more than a dozen states" is it appears to hold promise for some conditions. How much promise, and under what circumstances, is not conclusively known, not in the way we would expect of any other drug put on the market. We do not know what patients would be good candidates for therapeutic use of marijuana, what strains of the plant make for the most effective treatments, what doses are necessary, or whether, in some cases, the risks " paranoia, for example" outweigh the benefits.
While Foster's Daily Democrat stands against the legalization of marijuana across the board, this newspaper sympathizes with proponents of medical use like SB 409's prime sponsor state Sen. Jim Forsythe (R-Strafford). He believes allowing certain seriously ill people to take marijuana to relieve their persistent suffering is the humane thing to do.
What this paper opposes is allowing a situation, no matter how well intentioned, which would allow the further proliferation of what is already one of the most widely abused drugs in the state. And as Lynch notes, there is nothing in SB 409 to provide tightly controlled access for medical uses only.
Because marijuana is an illegal substance, the concerns of the law enforcement community must be given considerable weight. But SB 409 severely limits the ability of law enforcement to monitor medical marijuana cultivation. The commendable desire to relieve the suffering should not blind our lawmakers from the reality that marijuana is a very popular form of contraband which thousands of people in this state go to extraordinary lengths to obtain every day by illegal and sometimes event violent means.
If New Hampshire is allow the use of medical marijuana it will have to do it in a way that does not create more harm than good.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: fosters.com
Author: fosters.com
Contact: Fosters.com, Dover NH, Rochester NH, Portsmouth NH, Laconia NH, Sanford ME
Website: Fosters.com - Dover NH, Rochester NH, Portsmouth NH, Laconia NH, Sanford ME
It marks the second time the governor has vetoed such legislation. Specifically the bill would have permitted patients with debilitating medical conditions or their designated caretaker to grow and possess a limited amount of marijuana which the bill's supporters say can be a safe and effective treatment for the symptoms of cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, pain, glaucoma, epilepsy, and other conditions.
In his veto message Thursday, Lynch said he was mindful of those "that suffer from debilitating medical conditions who wish to use marijuana to help alleviate their symptoms and the side effects of medical treatment." But the governor said his empathy for those who suffer could not outweigh the fear the bill contained no effective safeguards to prevent locally cultivated marijuana from getting into the hands of those who have no legitimate medical need for it.
We hope the valid concerns Lynch raises in his veto message will persuade lawmakers to vote against any attempt to override the governor's veto.
While the bill is different in some ways from a medical marijuana bill which the Legislature passed, but Lynch vetoed, in 2009, there is nothing in this latest version restricting the number of cultivation sites. Further, it puts the lion's share of supervision on the state Department of Health and Human Services which has neither the staff nor the budget to adequately oversee a program so fraught with problems and a tempting target for those bent on crime.
Medical marijuana has long been caught in a Catch-22 of federal regulations. A drug can't be approved for use without evidence of its effectiveness and risks, but marijuana's status as a Schedule I controlled substance meant it could not be studied. That's absurd; much more dangerous drugs, including cocaine and opiates, are recognized for medical use, and doctors can consult a wealth of evidence about when they are appropriate.
But the best the medical establishment can say about marijuana "despite widespread therapeutic use in more than a dozen states" is it appears to hold promise for some conditions. How much promise, and under what circumstances, is not conclusively known, not in the way we would expect of any other drug put on the market. We do not know what patients would be good candidates for therapeutic use of marijuana, what strains of the plant make for the most effective treatments, what doses are necessary, or whether, in some cases, the risks " paranoia, for example" outweigh the benefits.
While Foster's Daily Democrat stands against the legalization of marijuana across the board, this newspaper sympathizes with proponents of medical use like SB 409's prime sponsor state Sen. Jim Forsythe (R-Strafford). He believes allowing certain seriously ill people to take marijuana to relieve their persistent suffering is the humane thing to do.
What this paper opposes is allowing a situation, no matter how well intentioned, which would allow the further proliferation of what is already one of the most widely abused drugs in the state. And as Lynch notes, there is nothing in SB 409 to provide tightly controlled access for medical uses only.
Because marijuana is an illegal substance, the concerns of the law enforcement community must be given considerable weight. But SB 409 severely limits the ability of law enforcement to monitor medical marijuana cultivation. The commendable desire to relieve the suffering should not blind our lawmakers from the reality that marijuana is a very popular form of contraband which thousands of people in this state go to extraordinary lengths to obtain every day by illegal and sometimes event violent means.
If New Hampshire is allow the use of medical marijuana it will have to do it in a way that does not create more harm than good.
News Hawk- TruthSeekr420 420 MAGAZINE
Source: fosters.com
Author: fosters.com
Contact: Fosters.com, Dover NH, Rochester NH, Portsmouth NH, Laconia NH, Sanford ME
Website: Fosters.com - Dover NH, Rochester NH, Portsmouth NH, Laconia NH, Sanford ME
