YOUR COMMENTS

Stephen,A. Manchester

You are commenting on something you obviously know nothing about. Please stop. Alot of the people commenting here are NOT "potheads" as you call them, and neither am I.
You come off as another of one of those "knee-jerk" reactionaries. Try actually thinking calmly about the matter before "spouting off at the mouth".
It is a PLANT.
Get over it.
- Randy, Manchester

My mother died of cancer, and completely lost her appetite. The pain and nausea were unbearable for her. I can't even tell you how many meds she was on from pain killers to anti nausea medication, which gave her horrible side effects and did nothing for the nausea. She burned her back on the heating pads she was using to help ease the pain. She was down to 85 pounds. She did, toward the end, turn to marijuana. Can I just tell you how happy I was to get a 10:00 pm phone call from her asking me to go to the store and get her a chocolate french silk cheesecake! She ate every day and her spirits were up right until her dying day. Not only did the marijuana help her immensely, but we, the family, have some very good memories to keep for the rest of our lives because she stopped suffering as much as she was! By the way, she was 94 lbs when she passed, thanks to the marijuana increasing her appetite. I absolutely, for obvious reasons, advocate legalizing medical marijuana. The people that "abuse" it will continue to do so whether it is legal or not. As for law enforcement, if you don't have a medical certificate it's illegal, simple as that! Don't complicate things that are not. Also, 6 plants only 3 of which are allowed to be mature at a time are certainly not going to make it out on the streets. There are dozens of other "benefits" of cannibus if you read the peer reviewed studies. I will always cherish the final months with my mother and her marijuana!
- Laurie, Dover

@Stephen:

While you may be right that many advocates of this bill are recreational users, you cannot simply dismiss the recognized medical benefits of cannabis.

Obviously California has a different aim with their "medical" dispensaries but please, there are 12 other states who have passed similar bills but do not have the same kind of abuse going on.

I'm sorry to say to you that this is a very real issue, and NH is looking strong to be the next advocate of medical marijuana.

I'm further saddened to inform you that we as a country are moving faster than ever towards a legal recreational cannabis industry. The "potheads" that you degrade will be having their way sooner than you think.
- Craig, Hollis

Stephen A., I noticed in one of your other posts relating to this issue you stated that the american cancer/glaucoma associations do not recommend smoking marijuana. This is true, but vaporization is actually recommended by both associations because it is a completely harmless method in which patients still receive the same effects as if it were smoked. Don't think smoking cannabis is the only way it can be used. There are salves, tinctures, oils, pills, sprayes, and the most popular amongst patients, the vaporizer. Or straight up smoking it!
- Jon, Lincoln

"Right now, it’s only speculation and hearsay that it “works” for some folks (wink.)"

It worked better for me than any cocktail of "approved and tested" pharmaceuticals during the year of aggressive chemo I went thru. It suppressed my nausea and increased my appetite, therefore, allowing me to EAT so that I could heal and not die from malnutrition.

If it didn’t work, why was it allowed and encouraged for me to use by doctors and nurses at one of the best cancer research hospitals in Boston? My nurses would unhook my saline after I was pumped full of chemo so that I could go outside to take care of business so to speak.

How can you be afraid of a plant that has never killed anyone, ever? It is only speculation on your part that it doesn’t work. I can tell you first hand that it works. Can you tell me first hand that it doesn’t?
- Zizzy, Manchester

Bill in Manchester: If there's already "no shortage of marijuana on the streets" then surely someone can deliver some to the sick people who supposedly need it more than all the other legal medications currently on the market.

As some druggies here and elsewhere will honestly admit, this is all about legalizing the stuff so they can get stoned, NOT about "medicine" or so-called "sick" people. If it was about sick people, it would be treated like every other REAL medicine - put on the market in controlled dosages and given under a doctor's care, AFTER rigorous testing to prove its effectiveness. Right now, it’s only speculation and hearsay that it “works” for some folks (wink.)

Bill's comparison of pot to other, legal prescription drugs that are being abused by people is a red herring and is irrelevant. Why is the widespread abuse of Xanax a good argument (or ANY kind of argument) for legalizing pot, which is being abused by EVERYONE who uses it to experience its side effects?
- Stephen A., Manchester

I'm seeing all these comments where people are worried that if we legalize medical marijuana people will abuse it, that medical marijuana will make it out on the streets, etc. Come on, there is no shortage of marijuana on the streets. People that are going to abuse it are already abusing it. We should just legalize it outright and regulate it similar to alcohol. We're not going to do that anytime soon though, but we ought to at least let people who are really sick use it if that's what their doctors recommend.

Will people abuse this? Sure, some will, just as people abuse the system to get painkillers and drugs like Xanax, far more addictive drugs. Those who would abuse the system to get pot are already smoking it so it doesn't really matter if they get a medical marijuana card or not. Pot's already easily available. If some of the stuff somebody grows in his closet ends up getting sold, so what? That's just less money for organized crime. People need to stop going into histrionics. This is just pot we're talking about here, and it's already everywhere in this state. Legal medical marijuana won't make any difference in that regard.
- Bill, Manchester

Mike, marijuana is not available in pill form. THC is available in pill form, but is doesn't have the same effect without the other cannabinoids present in whole marijuana. Additionally, one if its primary benefits is nausea suppression which is hard to assure proper delivery in pill form.
- Jeff, Manchester

I'd like to make some reservations as well. I don't want to wait in that LONG line..............
- James, manchester

Through state liquor stores? Nobody working in a state liquor store is qualified to distribute anything "medical". Additionally, wouldn't we need to post armed guards and step up taxpayer funded security measures to protect these stores from smash and grabs? How long before unscrupulous doctors start rx'ing this for anyone willing to pay? It's no different that chiro and PT offices flooding into high demand urban areas that have more "opportunistic" clientele.
- Bob, Hampstead

Marajuana is available in pill form - give 'em that. Let's see if that approach gets as much support from the pot heads.
- Brian, Farmington

I have no issues in using any "medication" to help the terminally ill, ect. to get comfort / help. However I cringe at the fact that as soon as this becomes legal all the other yahoos will abuse this....
- T.Bailey, Twin Mountain

I agree with providing medical marijuana to folks who truly need it. The problem I see is that it is still illegal for all other purposes and those who become authorized growers/users are soon going to become (1) targets and (2) suspects. It is the nature of the beast. I think it needs to have a legit growing and distribution process to protect those needing it against the inevitable opportunists who will find a way to take advantage of the situation.
Of course, the real bottom line is, I believe that marijuana should be legal, period. The real "drug" of addiction and one 20 times more lethal is cigarette smoking.
- Sandy, Thornton

Gov. Lynch is right to have reservations about this bill, and should thwart the plans of the drug dealers who want pot legalized by stealth.

If this was a serious “medical” marijuana bill that cared about patient’s health, it would require the marijuana to be grown by the state (or by a group of doctors under laboratory conditions) with dosage carefully measured and tested for THC content, and restricted to being administered to patients in a doctor’s office under a doctor’s supervision.

But this bill is clearly a means to get more pot onto the streets, sanctioned by the state legislature.

A bill with almost the identical language in California has proven to be a cover for widespread abuse by non-sick people.

ABC News has done a report on how, after the law was passed, instead of individuals growing their own pot for their own use, first “co-ops” and then “pot dispensaries” opened in which anyone complaining of an illness could buy it on the spot.

Sorry, potheads. That's not gonna happen here in NH.
- Stephen A., Manchester

The governor is married to a doctor and should know that this is something that can be controlled medication. Look at morphine, for goodness sakes! People with glaucoma and cancer will benefit from this.
This is not about a cannabis festival with a bunch of teenagers dancing around to funky music. This is medication for people who are in critical pain.
- joco, manchester, nh

I agree with medical marijuana and I agree with Gov. Lynch. The state needs to establish a formal cultivation and distribution system for medical marijuana. Perhaps the state could license in-state growers who would only sell to the state, and the state could then distribute it to the terminally ill through the state liquor stores. Drug stores wouldn't work because they could lose their federal license for selling medical marijuana.
- Mike, Bedford

Please allow the terminally ill any comfort they can get.

It's silly to overlook their pain. If you've ever had a family member go through severe illness, you would do anything you could to help. This may.
- Marc, Goffstown

Sen. Gallus, thank you for sticking with liberty, over party lines.
- Kevin, Lancaster