New Hampshire Medical Marijuana

To: Governor John Lynch and the New Hampshire General Court





Whereas, modern medical research has discovered a beneficial use for marijuana in treating or alleviating the pain or other symptoms associated with certain debilitating medical conditions, as found by the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine in March 1999.





Whereas, the general court admits that it would prefer for the federal government to permit marijuana to be prescribed by physicians and to be dispensed at pharmacies. However, the general court finds that the federal government has shown no indication that it will change federal policy with regard to medical marijuana, as evidenced by the federal governments reluctance to allow even FDA-approved clinical trials to move forward.





Whereas, according to the U.S. Sentencing Commission and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, more than 99 out of every 100 marijuana arrests are made under state law, rather than under federal law. Consequently, the general court finds that changing state law will have the practical effect of protecting from arrest the vast majority of seriously ill people who have a medical need to use marijuana.





Whereas, although federal law expressly prohibits the use of marijuana, the general court recognizes that the laws of Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, Montana, Rhode Island, and Washington permit the medical use and cultivation of marijuana. The general court intends to join in this effort for the health and welfare of its citizens. However, the general court does not intend to make marijuana legally available for other than medical purposes.





Whereas, the state is not required to enforce federal law or prosecute individuals for engaging in activities prohibited by federal law. Therefore, compliance with this act does not put the state in violation of federal law.





Therefore, state law should make a distinction between the medical and non-medical use of marijuana. Hence, the purpose of this act is to ensure that physicians are not penalized for discussing marijuana as a treatment option with their patients, and seriously ill people who engage in the medical use of marijuana upon their physicians advice are not arrested and incarcerated for using marijuana for medical purposes.





The undersigned conclude that:





Licensed medical doctors should not be punished for recommending the medical use of marijuana to seriously ill people, and ill people should not be subject to criminal sanctions for using marijuana if the patients physicians have told them that such use is likely to be beneficial.