Pompo

Medical marijuana should be made legal
7/5/09|Portsmouth Herald| Editorial



Governor Lynch should sign the legislation allowing the use of small amounts of marijuana for medical purposes. It's the humane thing to do.

As he weighs the arguments for and against the bill, people are suffering, are in pain because the use and possession of any amount of marijuana in New Hampshire is against the law.

Technically, a cancer patient using marijuana to ease his or her suffering could be arrested.

And that's just not right.

Studies have indicated medical marijuana is helpful in treating many diseases, including several forms of cancer, Alzheimer's, migraines, fibromyalgia and many more.

But law enforcement, for the most part, remains steadfastly against anyone using marijuana for any purposes.

Here's what the soon-to-be former police chief in Portsmouth had to say about it last week: "Calling it medicine doesn't make it so. It's not FDA-approved and there's no quality control. It leads to higher drug use and it impairs driving. I think it sends the wrong message to our kids."

But it IS medicine to those who need it.

How much quality control is needed? New Hampshire's proposed law provides such control.

It leads to higher drug use? That tired argument has been around since the start of the "War on Drugs" 30 or 40 years ago. And we're not talking about teenagers using it. We're talking about adults, some of whom are dying. They're not likely to work their way up to heroin any time soon.

They're also not likely to be out driving cars.

And, last but not least, he thinks it sends the wrong message to our kids. What might that be? That the state of New Hampshire thinks it is beneficial and merciful to allow sick people to use a little pot to ease their pain or discomfort? And that's the wrong message?

The bill that sits on Lynch's desk would allow patients with debilitating illnesses to possess and use small amounts of marijuana. It would not allow patients to grow their own marijuana at their homes, but would require "compassion centers," not-for-profit organizations that would be required to receive state certification, for distribution of the drug. This is similar to laws in California, New Mexico and Rhode Island.

The bill also has increased oversight by the state Department of Health and Human Services.

While New Hampshire debates and awaits Lynch's decision, our neighbors to the south in Massachusetts voted last year to make possession of less than an ounce of marijuana a non-criminal offense. Those caught with that amount of marijuana now get what amounts to a $100 ticket.

Thus far we haven't read about an explosion of pot smokers.

But it does make things easier for people who might want the drug for medicinal reasons. However, it's still illegal.

The bill on Lynch's desk would take that stain of illegality away for residents of New Hampshire whose doctors think the drug, like so many other drugs, might be beneficial to their patients.

But that's not enough to convince the police chief. He says efforts in other states that have medical marijuana laws have turned out to be "a joke."

Perhaps he should ask the patients in New Hampshire, or Portsmouth, whose lives stand to be improved by medical marijuana if they are laughing.