Maine DHHS: Marijuana can't be used for Tourette's

Maine public health officials have denied an Ellsworth man's request to use marijuana legally to treat his Tourette's syndrome.

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services this week denied a request by Dr. Dustin Sulak to add Tourette's syndrome to the list of qualifying medical conditions that marijuana use is allowed to treat.

Sulak said a denial letter signed by agency Commissioner Mary Mayhew arrived on Christmas Eve without any explanation for the decision.

Sulak and his patient, Peter Hasty, had testified in November that marijuana helped Hasty's muscular tics caused by Tourette's.

Hasty tells the Portland Press Herald that marijuana allows him to function in society.

Studies that looked at the effectiveness of marijuana use to treat Tourette's are inconclusive.

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Canadian teen with Tourette's Syndrome permitted to use medical cannabis on campus

The teenage years are an awkward time for everybody. High school can be especially tough, just trying to fit in, particularly if you have any sort of disability. 15-year-old Noah Kirkman, a 10th-grade student at Western Canada High School knows about these pressures all too well, growing up with attention-deficit disorder and Tourette syndrome.

While he is far from the first high school student to have to deal with such issues, he appears to be one of the first students to have been granted permission by his school to use medical marijuana, while on campus, to treat his ailments. That's right, three times a day the young man walks right past the Principal's office, and into the Vice Principal's office for a quick rip, or two or three, off of his handheld herbal vaporizer. 

Before school, at lunch, and after school, Kirkman is able to gratefully pass up ineffective prescription pills in favor of inoffensive vaporized cannabis, which he says, "doesn't have any withdrawal effects and I can't (overdose) on it."

"It helps me keep calm, it helps me keep focused," he added in his interview with the Metro in Calgary.

Kirkman has been a licensed medical marijuana patient since September, and he and his mother immediately approached the local Calgary school board to try to determine how he could legally and discreetly get his head right a few times a day while on campus. Apparently, "hotboxing the Veep's office" was the best plan.

Kirkman was cool with puffing on his vaporizer out in front of the school, but cold Canadian weather and fear of controversy led school officials to invite him inside the administrator's office. He doesn't see what all the fuss is about, saying, "Usually, I'm not that discreet about it. My friends are very accepting of it, I've dealt with no discrimination or anything like that."

That is certainly no shocker, that his friends think that him seshing on kush three times a day while they stand in line for juice cups and taco snacks is cool. Marijuana use among high school aged American kids continues to rise, and the trend only goes...ahem...higher when you look at Canadian teens. Still, though, Kirkman's is the only case we could find where a teenager has been permitted to use medical marijuana on campus, in any country.

Back in the U.S., even for adult college students, aged 18 and up, on campus marijuana use - for any purpose - is strictly prohibited, more often than not. Any school that receives any federal funding is forced to respect the fact that marijuana is still a Schedule I controlled substance on the federal level, or risk losing much needed federal funding.

Signed into law in 1990, the Clery Act requires all colleges and universities that get any form of federal aid keep, and disclose to the feds, detailed records of all crimes committed on or near their campuses - including the buying and selling of crappy dorm-room dimebags.

In most cases, the best you can hope for is that your school allows you to at least carry your meds on you at all times. Unfortunately, the more common route is to completely ban any and all marijuana possession anywhere on school grounds - even for students required to spend their first year living on campus.

This ridiculous dangling of federal funds in front of cash-strapped universities like a carrot on a stick is evenhappening on college campuses across Colorado, where in the 2012 election, more people voted to legalize limited amounts of weed for adults 21 and up than voted for Barack Obama, who trounced his opponent in the state.

The bravery displayed not just by Kirkman, but by the school board who is allowing him to make such history, might end up being the template eventually used to end the widespread cannabis prohibition on campuses at all levels of education, across the globe.

With luck, stories like Kirkman's will continue to make headlines, simultaneously downplaying the fabricated threats of marijuana use, and further instilling its legitimacy as a true medicine in the mind of the general public.

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Medical Cannabis Provides Dramatic Relief for Sufferers of Chronic Ailments, Israeli Study Finds

Though controversial, medical cannabis has been gaining ground as a valid therapy, offering relief to suffers of diseases such as cancer, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, ALS and more. The substance is known to soothe severe pain, increase the appetite, and ease insomnia where other common medications fail.

In 2009, Zach Klein, a graduate of Tel Aviv University's Department of Film and Television Studies, directed the documentary Prescribed Grass. Through the process, he developed an interest in the scientific research behind medical marijuana, and now, as a specialist in policy-making surrounding medical cannabis and an MA student at TAU's Porter School of Environmental Studies, he is conducting his own research into the benefits of medical cannabis.

Using marijuana from a farm called Tikkun Olam -- a reference to the Jewish concept of healing the world -- Klein and his fellow researchers tested the impact of the treatment on 19 residents of the Hadarim nursing home in Israel. The results, Klein says, have been outstanding. Not only did participants experience dramatic physical results, including healthy weight gain and the reduction of pain and tremors, but Hadarim staff saw an immediate improvement in the participants' moods and communication skills. The use of chronic medications was also significantly reduced, he reports.

Klein's research team includes Dr. Dror Avisar of TAU's Hydrochemistry Laboratory at the Department of Geography and Human Environment; Prof. Naama Friedmann and Rakefet Keider of TAU's Jaime and Joan Constantiner School of Education; Dr. Yehuda Baruch of TAU's Sackler Faculty of Medicine and director of the Abarbanel Mental Health Center; and Dr. Moshe Geitzen and Inbal Sikorin of Hadarim.

Cutting down on chronic medications

Israel is a world leader in medical cannabis research, Klein says. The active ingredient in marijuana, THC, was first discovered there by Profs. Raphael Mechoulam and Yechiel Gaoni. Prof. Mechoulam is also credited for having defined the endocannabinoid system, which mimics the effects of cannabis and plays a role in appetite, pain sensation, mood and memory.

In the Hadarim nursing home, 19 patients between the ages of 69 and 101 were treated with medical cannabis in the form of powder, oil, vapor, or smoke three times daily over the course of a year for conditions such as pain, lack of appetite, and muscle spasms and tremors. Researchers and nursing home staff monitored participants for signs of improvement, as well as improvement in overall life quality, such as mood and ease in completing daily living activities.

During the study, 17 patients achieved a healthy weight, gaining or losing pounds as needed. Muscle spasms, stiffness, tremors and pain reduced significantly. Almost all patients reported an increase in sleeping hours and a decrease in nightmares and PTSD-related flashbacks.

There was a notable decline in the amount of prescribed medications taken by patients, such as antipsychotics, Parkinson's treatment, mood stabilizers, and pain relievers, Klein found, noting that these drugs have severe side effects. By the end of the study, 72 percent of participants were able to reduce their drug intake by an average of 1.7 medications a day.

Connecting cannabis and swallowing

This year, Klein is beginning a new study at Israel's Reuth Medical Center with Drs. Jean-Jacques Vatine and Aviah Gvion, in which he hopes to establish a connection between medical cannabis and improved swallowing. One of the biggest concerns with chronically ill patients is food intake, says Klein. Dysphagia, or difficulty in swallowing, can lead to a decline in nutrition and even death. He believes that cannabis, which has been found to stimulate regions of the brain associated with swallowing reflexes, will have a positive impact.

Overall, Klein believes that the healing powers of cannabis are close to miraculous, and has long supported an overhaul in governmental policy surrounding the drug. Since his film was released in 2009, the number of permits for medical cannabis in Israel has increased from 400 to 11,000. His research is about improving the quality of life, he concludes, especially for those who have no other hope.

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Alaska: Marijuana Legalization Initiative Halfway There With Signatures

For more than 30 years, Alaska was the only state in the U.S. in which it was legal -- under some circumstances -- to smoke marijuana for the fun of it.

Then Colorado and Washington voters last November passed initiatives legalizing cannabis for adults and setting up systems of production, sales and taxation.

Now backers of a legalization initiative in Alaska say they are moving toward making the same change there, reports the Anchorage Daily News. The group is about halfway to reaching their goal of 45,000 signatures by December 1, about 15,000 more than the number required to get the measure on next year's primary election ballot, according to main sponsor Timothy Hinterberger.

"In a free society, prohibition of popular substances is just bad public policy," Hinterberger said.

The initiative would add a seven-page statute to the books in Alaska, legalizing marijuana for adults and setting up a state regulatory body to oversee cannabis farms, dealers and advertising.

The initiative would impose a hefty $50 per ounce excise tax that would be collected between the greenhouse and the store or factory.

Employers would still be allowed to prohibit their workers from smoking or possession at work, and prevent employees from being high while on duty. Driving under the influence of cannabis would still be illegal, and local governments could outlaw growing and sales -- but not possession.

Police would have to stop their current practice of seizing small amounts of pot when they find it. The measure would authorize retail pot shops, but not parlors or bars; that is to say, on-site consumption would be prohibited at the shops.

The legalization measure has been gaining support since Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell on June 14 ruled that the initiative could proceed to the signature-gathering phase. The August 29 Justice Department announcement that it wouldn't sue to stop legalization laws in states which legalize cannabis added momentum to the cause.

"I've had a lot of people talk to me about that since then," Hinterberger said. "I think that shows that we are on the right track in thinking that things are really changing, both in federal policy as well as in public sentiment. It eliminates one of the arguments you sometimes hear against an initiative like ours -- it doesn't matter what we do locally as a state because the feds will step in."

The advisory, while noting that marijuana is still a "serious crime," directs federal law enforcement authorities on the local level to focus on larger priorities, not simple possession or legalized marijuana grow and sale operations. In the case of states which have legalized pot, the Justice Department expects them to prevent interstate sales.

After Alaska voters in 1972 passed one of the most important amendments to the state constitution -- a right to privacy -- Homer resident Irwin Ravin arranged for police to arrest him with two joints in his pocket.

The Alaska Supreme Court dismissed Ravin's case in 1975, making Alaska the only state with legalized marijuana. The court ruled 5-0 that the state law banning cannabis possession violated the newly approved right of privacy, at least for small amounts inside a person's home.

The state could still ban the use of pot in public or by minors, the court said, and could restrict the sales and quantity, but not private possession. In 1982, the Legislature set the legalized "small amount" at four ounces or four plants; anything more than that was a misdemeanor.

But with the War On Drugs coming to Alaska during the Reagan years, the state Senate, then dominated by the GOP, wanted to recriminalize. Legalization opponents sponsored a ballot measure in the 1990 general election which restored criminal penalties for possession of any amount of pot. It won with 54 percent of the vote.

In 2003, the Alaska Court of Appeals ruled that law was unconstitutional. The Alaska Supreme Court refused to hear it, letting the Court of Appeals decision stand.

Gov. Frank Murkowski, in office from 2002 to 2006, vowed to recriminalize pot AGAIN, and directed the Legislature to pass a new law criminalizing all pot possession. The law passed in 2006 and was quickly struck down by a Juneau Superior Court judge.

The Alaska Supreme Court ruled that the judge had acted prematurely, since nobody had been arrested yet. But apparently nobody has since, and that's where the law stands now: a ban on possession of small quantities is still the law, but the law is clearly unconstitutional, according to Joshua Decker, acting executive director of the ACLU of Alaska.

If officers encounter a small quantity of marijuana, according to Anchorage Police Chief Mark Mew, they will seize it as contraband and eventually destroy it, but the Ravin decision effectively blocks the state from prosecuting possession cases involving less than four ounces.

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More than 100 apply for medical marijuana licenses

A state official says more than 100 groups have applied to operate nonprofit medical marijuana dispensaries in Massachusetts.

Initial applications from prospective operators were required to be hand-delivered to the state Department of Public Health on Thursday.

A law approved by Massachusetts voters last November allows a maximum of 35 dispensaries around the state to provide marijuana to patients with medical conditions such as cancer, Parkinson’s Disease and AIDS.

During the first phase of a two-part process, state public health officials will conduct background checks and screen applicants for financial viability.

Public Health Commissioner Cheryl Bartlett said the department hopes to complete the initial review by mid-September and award licenses by the end of the year.

Applicants were not required to specify locations for proposed dispensaries during the first phase of the process.

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Medical marijuana activists rally at state Capitol

People from across the country rallied Wednesday at the Kentucky Capitol hoping to ultimately influence state lawmakers to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Members of the House and Senate Committee on Health and Welfare listened to passionate testimony along with occasional outbursts from the audience in what Sen. Perry Clark, D-Louisville, called a historic hearing.

Clark pointed out that 20 states plus Washington, D.C., have permitted people to use marijuana for medicinal purposes.

“We can’t really say that marijuana has no medicinal value,” Clark said. “The cat’s out of the bag. Marijuana is a medicine; it is a forbidden medicine.”

The senator called current marijuana prohibition laws “hypocrisy” and pointed out the federal government actually holds a patent for the plant.

Irvin Rosenfeld of Florida is a medical marijuana patient who is one of four Americans authorized by the federal government to hold a prescription. Rosenfeld, born with a rare debilitating bone disease, said without decades of cannabis, he likely would be dead or homebound and a “drain on society.” The stockbroker used marijuana illegally for about a decade but successfully fought federal officials and won the legal right to have a prescription in 1982.

Before turning to cannabis, Rosenfeld took potentially addictive prescription drugs such as morphine, Valium and now-outlawed Quaaludes. He pointed out that morphine is synthetic heroin. Chuck Thompson of Paducah voiced similar sentiments about the popular prescription painkiller methadone and pointed out that Nazi scientists invented methadone.

Thompson, who uses a wheelchair due to severe limb swelling and nerve damage, says he was prosecuted under current state laws for using marijuana for medicinal purposes. As a result, he risks five years imprisonment for any further illicit cannabis use and says he is forced to take four methadone pills a day to alleviate his “chronic, excruciating pain.”

“I am a medicine user,” Thompson said. “I am not a drug abuser.”

After the session, dozens of activists, including Randy Grimes of Stanford and Paula Kaye Willett of Marshall County, met at the steps of the Capitol Annex building.

Cannabis “has never killed anybody,” Grimes said. “(Medical marijuana) is even legal in D.C. where the president of the United States lives.”

Willett, who had hoped to testify before the committee but did not get an opportunity to do so, has battled numerous medical problems since the 1970s, including chronic pain from two motor vehicle collisions, anxiety, depression and an inflammation of the colon.

“The one plant that God Himself put on this planet for man’s use helps everything that is wrong with my body,” Willett said. “I do not use cannabis to get ‘high’ and have a party; I use cannabis to heal my body and bring me closer to my Creator and help make me a better person, a better mom and able to do my job as a mom and be productive in society.”

Wednesday’s hearing represented the beginning of what could be a long process to get a bill sponsored let alone passed through state legislators. Any bill sponsored in the near future would face opposition by Republican Rep. Robert Benvenuti of Fayette County; the representative is a former Inspector General for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

"When I read articles that medical marijuana is good for anxiety, I'll tell you right now that tells me one thing — it's open to abuse,” Benvenuti said. “And until I'm assured where the clinical evidence is, this is not going to have my support.”

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New clinic claims path to medical marijuana

The sign in the window of the office building in West Town was enough to bring in a steady stream of potential customers. Its message read: "Medical marijuana may be right for you."

Wednesday was opening day for the office of Brian Murray, a general practice physician who said he runs a clinic in Michigan where qualified patients can receive medical marijuana. But the new Illinois law allowing medical marijuana won't provide anyone with the drug until next year.

The Illinois law, signed this month by Gov. Pat Quinn, allows for the legal possession, use and sale of marijuana for some 40 medical conditions, including HIV, AIDS, cancer and other diseases. It is far more restrictive than laws in some other states, which allow use of the drug for catch-all categories like chronic pain.

The Illinois law requires that patients have an existing relationship with a physician who can provide documentation to support his or her medical need to use the drug, which remains a federally banned substance.

 Murray said opening the clinic now makes it possible to establish a meaningful doctor-patient relationship for clients who may not have another doctor.

But some who walked into the office Wednesday simply had questions about the law or wanted to find out how to open a distribution center. None asked to buy marijuana on the spot, said Daniel Reid, a spokesman for the office.

What the clinic offered was a chance to file medical histories and fill out a background form for Murray, who said he would later consider helping them qualify for medical marijuana. On Wednesday, the clinic charged some people a $99 fee for an individual care plan that would later be formulated.

Even qualified patients are expected to have a long wait before getting their hands on the drug. The new law, which sets up a four-year trial program, takes effect Jan. 1 and requires state regulators to spend months coming up with rules that spell out who gets to open the 22 marijuana growing operations across the state — and how patients will get medical marijuana cards from doctors. It could be fall 2014 before patients legally use marijuana in Illinois.

Some visitors to the West Town office said they found out about the clinic through news reports that called it the state's "first medical marijuana clinic."

Stuart Bander, 50, who said he's been suffering from multiple sclerosis for 20 years, was disappointed with the staff's answers to his questions about the law.

"I know more than they do," he said. "They're doing nothing."

But others, such as Jackson Delgado of Chicago, said they hoped to have a chance to sit down with Murray.

Delgado, 25, said he did not have a regular primary care physician and hoped to get medical marijuana to treat insomnia. But that is not one of the listed ailments covered by the law.

"I don't want to see anybody that uses any kind of chemical (drug)," Delgado said. "I want to go natural."

Tammy Jacobi, an assistant to Murray, staffed the clinic Wednesday and made copies of medical histories that people brought in. She also gave out information about medical marijuana side effects.

Jacobi, who said she works with Murray in Michigan, explained that if people already have primary care physicians, they should go to them first.

"If they have any trouble then they can come here, or if they don't have a primary care physician then they can also come here," Murray said, adding that the clinic will act as a "pathway for (patients) to get certified" for medical marijuana when it becomes available.

Murray said there's no promise his new clients will ever get their hands on the drug.

"That's up to the state," Murray said.

Just before the clinic closed for the day Wednesday, two men who said they were from the state medical board showed up and met privately with Murray.

When asked about the meeting, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Susan Hofer, said she could not confirm that anyone from the department had been to the office.

Hofer said that because rules for the "prior relationship" with the doctor who helps a patient qualify to receive medical marijuana haven't been established yet, nobody can say whether what's going on at this clinic would qualify as a prior relationship when the law goes into effect.

Jacobi said she hoped the 75-some patients who filed paperwork with Murray's office Wednesday would help persuade state officials to move faster on implementing the law.

"We want to keep sick people out of the back alleys for getting their medicine," Jacobi said.

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Michigan medical marijuana panel looks to add PTSD to law but rejects autism, other conditions

Marijuana (AP File Photo)

 A state panel appointed to review Michigan's medical marijuana law gave preliminary approval on Tuesday to a citizen petition seeking to add post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of debilitating conditions that can qualify a patient for participation in the program.

The Michigan Marihuana Act Review Panel, in a 7-2 vote, recommended adding PTSD to the list. The preliminary vote will be followed by a public hearing, which must be scheduled within 60 days under state rules, before the panel reconvenes to make a formal recommendation.

The head of the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, the state agency responsible for appointing the panel and administering the medical marijuana program, will have final say on whether to add PTSD to the list of debilitating conditions.

LARA disbanded a previous iteration of the panel in April after acknowledging failure to appoint members in a manner consistent with administrative rules. The original panel had recommended adding PTSD, and the new-look group, whose members were appointed in June, followed suit in Tuesday's preliminary vote.

"In my opinion, marijuana is one of the best medications for people with PTSD," said appointee David Crocker, a medical doctor from Kalamazoo who serves as president of Michigan Holistic Health. "…We have a lot of veterans with PTSD in our clinics. Many of them will tell you they think marijuana saved their lives, and many of their families will tell you the same thing."

Jeanne Lewandowski of Detroit, a panel member who works as director of palliative medicine at St. John Hospital and Medical Center, spoke out against the petition and was one of two appointees to vote against it. She argued that marijuana could impair the ability of military veterans to reintegrate into society and said she was concerned about social isolation.

PTSD petitioner John EvansJohn Evans of Ann Arbor, a military veteran and medical marijuana user, explains why he filed a petition seeking to add PTSD to Michigan's law.

In a series of separate votes, the panel rejected petitions seeking to add insomnia, asthma and autism to the list of debilitating conditions under the law. The insomnia vote was preliminary, meaning it will also be subject to a public hearing followed by another vote.

The asthma and autism votes, however, were considered final because the previous iteration of the panel had already considered the petitions and LARA had organized public hearings, frustrating some members who felt the agency was employing a double standard.

"I didn't feel it was appropriate," said David Brogren of Bloomfield Hills, a non-physician panelist who serves as president of Cannabis Patients United. "They disbanded the original panel because it was put together in error. I don't believe the errors were malicious or anything like that -- it wasn't a conspiracy, they just made a mistake -- but I think what they should do was go back to square one on all (the petitions). That would be the most fair thing."

During a public comment section of Tuesday's panel meeting, several marijuana advocates criticized the state for its handling of the review panel, which was envisioned in the 2008 law, mandated by administrative rules established in 2009, but did not meet for the first time until 2012.

A number of advocates questioned whether LARA had again violated the administrative rules by appointing only six members to the panel who also serve on the state's Advisory Committee on Symptom Management. Seven are required.

But Carole Engle, director of LARA's bureau of health care services, expressed confidence that the panel was properly constituted and convened, noting that Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is expected to appoint another member to the committee who would then serve on the panel moving forward.

"We are convinced that we are not wasting our time," Engle said in response to a question from a panel member. "…We're still missing one member from the advisory committee, but we do have a quorum of appropriately appointed members here today, and that should not impede the panel's ability to make decisions at all."

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2nd DEA Raid on Michigan Medical Marijuana Facilities in Same Week

Drug Enforcement Agency Special Agent Rich Isaacson confirms this week’s second raid on a medical marijuana distribution center in southeastern Michigan.

Bazonzoes, located on West Maple Rd in Walled Lake, was served a state-issued search warrant by DEA Agents in association with local law enforcement on August 1. Isaacson refused to provide additional details, stating the DEA “does not comment on ongoing investigations.” He would neither confirm nor deny any relationship between this raid and the search warrant served on July 30.

On that date, Ypsilanti’s The Shop was the target of a similar state-issued warrant. Vehicles were towed away from that location and merchandise was seized. Seizures of boxes, and bags containing marijuana, were also reported by local news agencies. Ypsilanti licenses and regulates six medical marijuana distribution centers and at least one commercial garden. Recent efforts by some Council members to cap the number of facilities at six will culminate in a vote on a proposed ordinance, the second and final reading of which takes place on Thursday the 8th at 7pm.

The Shop will have a hearing on whether to revoke their city-issued license on that same day, Thursday at 9am, Ypsilanti City Hall. The Shop stands accused of smoking and/or using marijuana on the premises based on evidence gathered at the time of the raid. A letter obtained by The Compassion Chronicles shows that city officials Teresa Gillotti and Frank Daniels were present at the time of the raid and witnessed the evidence firsthand. That violates Ypsilanti ordinance law; City Attorney John Barr has requested the revocation of the medical marijuana business license.

Bazonzoes was previously raided in December of 2011. Five pounds of marijuana, two pounds of baked goods and “lip stick containing marijuana” were seized at that time, according to the Oakland Press. Four arrests were made. That raid was conducted by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department Narcotics Enforcement Team following a two week investigation.

In April of 2011 federal agents raided Caregivers of America in Walled Lake. As reported by WWJ Newsradio at the time, Oakland County officials made statements about the nature of distribution centers in Michigan.

Oakland County prosecutor Jessica Cooper said she wants to end confusion surrounding the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act. Cooper said under the law, marijuana dispensaries of any kind are illegal in Michigan.

However, attorney Neil Rockind, who represents medical marijuana patients, said that’s absolutely not true.

“It’s very simple. Voters wanted patients to have access to marijuana for medical purposes.  That’s the spirit and intent behind the law. And the law doesn’t prohibit dispensaries,” Rockind said.

There was no official word as to why federal agencies would be executing state-issued search warrants instead of having them executed by their respective county Sheriff’s Departments, but speculation abounds that it is a strategy to make court cases more difficult to defend.

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Illinois governor signs medical marijuana bill

Illinois has become the 20th state in the nation to legalize medical marijuana.

Gov. Pat Quinn signed the bill into law Thursday at a new University of Chicago medical facility.

Illinois' law takes effect Jan. 1, but it'll take several months before medical marijuana will be available for purchase. The measure outlines a four-year pilot program for patients suffering from more than 30 serious illnesses or diseases.

Quinn says he's heard compelling stories from seriously ill patients - including veterans - and says medical marijuana will provide many people relief.

He also says Illinois' new law also has some of the toughest standards in the country, including background checks for all staff at state-run dispensaries and 24-hour surveillance at growing centers.

Nineteen other states and Washington, D.C., allow medical marijuana.

The bill is HB1.

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New Hampshire legalizes medical marijuana

A woman works on marijuana plants where the company grows medical cannabis (AFP Photo / Menahem Kahana)

New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan on Tuesday signed a new medical marijuana bill into law, officially making her state the 19th to allow doctors to prescribe the drug.

State lawmakers in both legislative houses overwhelmingly approved the new law in June, and Gov. Hassan said she would sign the bill, thereby making New Hampshire the last state in New England to legalize medical marijuana.

“Allowing doctors to provide relief to patients through the use of appropriately regulated and dispensed medical marijuana is the compassionate and right policy for the state of New Hampshire, and this legislation ensures that we approach this policy in the right way with measures to prevent abuse,” Hassan said in a statement.

The measure permits patients with “chronic or terminal disease” or “debilitating medical conditions” to obtain prescriptions for marijuana.  Under the new law, these patients will be allowed to possess up to 2 ounces of the drug, which they would have to obtain from a nonprofit marijuana dispensary.

“This legislation is long overdue and comes as a relief to the many seriously ill patients throughout New Hampshire who will benefit from safe access to medical marijuana,” Matt Simon, a New Hampshire-based legislative analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project, said in a statement. “Those suffering from debilitating conditions like cancer and multiple sclerosis deserve legal, safe and reliable access to medical marijuana.”

An initial version of the bill would have allowed patients to grow their own marijuana at home, but Gov. Hassan successfully removed that provision. And to prevent patients from going “doctor shopping” to find one that will prescribe the drug, the law requires patients to obtain the prescription from a medical provider that they have been seeing for at least 90 days. That provision ensures that patients have tried other remedies and exhibited ongoing symptoms before resorting to marijuana use.

The new law allows for the licensing of up to four marijuana dispensaries, each of which can grow a maximum of 80 marijuana plants and possess 80 ounces of marijuana, or 6 ounces per patient.

“By providing strong regulatory oversight and clear dispensing guidelines, this bill addresses many of the concerns that were expressed throughout the legislative process,” the governor said. “[The bill] legalizes the use of medical marijuana in a way that makes sense for the state of New Hampshire and gives health providers another option to help New Hampshire’s seriously ill patients.”

Last year, the Republican-led New Hampshire legislature approved a similar bill, but it was vetoed by former Democratic Gov. John Lynch, who argued that the measure did not provide adequate restrictions on marijuana cultivation and prescription. Lynch contended that under the proposed law, patients would be able to obtain a prescription without seriously needing it, and abuse the drug.

But New Hampshire’s new medical marijuana bill has addressed some of the issues that troubled the former governor, and the provisions will gradually go into effect over the next few months.

Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania are currently considering similar measures.

“The vast majority of Americans recognize the medical benefits of marijuana and believe people with serious illnesses should have safe and legal access to it,” Simon said. “We applaud our elected officials for enacting a law to protect patients, and we hope legislators in other states will follow suit.”

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Illinois governor signs law allowing medical marijuana

A law allowing marijuana to be used for medical purposes in Illinois was signed on Thursday by Governor Pat Quinn, making it the second most populous state in the country after California to permit medicinal use of the drug.

 "Over the years, I've been moved by the brave patients and veterans who are fighting terrible illnesses," Quinn said. "They need and deserve pain relief." The law, which takes effect January 1, allows patients diagnosed with one of 35 medical conditions such as cancer, Parkinson's or lupus to use marijuana as recommended by an Illinois licensed physician.

 The four-year program, which supporters call the strictest in the nation, requires a doctor's written certification, registered patient photo identification cards and an electronic verification system. The senate sponsor for the bill was Bill Haine, a downstate Democrat who is a former prosecutor. The bill passed the Illinois house and senate this past spring.

 "We are ensuring only those suffering from the most serious diseases receive this treatment," said Haine. "This law takes additional steps to prevent fraud and abuse." Nineteen other states plus the District of Columbia have effective medical marijuana laws, according to the Marijuana Policy Project, a non-profit Washington, D.C.-based group. The project does not count Maryland on the list because it only allows for a "very limited research program," according to spokesman Morgan Fox. Under the Illinois law, patients would be limited to 2.5 ounces (70 grams) of marijuana every two weeks.

The marijuana must be grown and distributed in Illinois, kept in a closed container and not used in public or in front of minors. Jim Champion, a veteran afflicted with multiple sclerosis, was among those who spoke with Quinn while he was considering the bill, according to Quinn's office. "I use medical cannabis because it's the most effective medicine in treating my muscle spasticity with few side effects,"

 Champion said. "My wife shouldn't have to go to drug dealers for my medicine. Neither of us deserve to be criminals." Those who use, grow or sell the drug must be fingerprinted and undergo background checks. Landlords and employers could ban its use on their property. Users suspected of driving under the influence face the loss of not only their driving privileges, but also their marijuana-use permits.

 Under U.S. federal law, marijuana is considered an addictive substance and distribution is a federal offense. The administration of President Barack Obama has discouraged federal prosecutors from pursuing people who distribute marijuana for medical purposes under state laws.

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New Hampshire Legislature passes medical marijuana bill

The N.H. Legislature overwhelmingly passed legislation Wednesday legalizing medical marijuana. But the vote did not fall entirely along party lines among Monadnock Region lawmakers.

House Bill 573 sailed through the N.H. House, 284-66. The Senate also passed the bill on a voice vote.

In the region, it passed by a 27-3 vote in the House.

State Rep. William Butynski, D-Hinsdale, who voted against the bill in March, switched his vote on Wednesday.

“The Senate changed the bill to incorporate changes recommended by the governor,” he said. “And so, I’m not sure I felt good, but I felt OK voting for it.”

Butynski said his main concern about passing such a bill is “the message it sends to young people. I don’t want them to think, ‘Well, it’s OK to use for medical (purposes) so it’s OK for me to use it,’ because that’s really not the case.”

The bill makes it legal for people with serious health conditions to possess up to 2 ounces of marijuana for therapeutic use with a doctor’s prescription. Medical conditions or diseases that qualify people for medical marijuana include cancer, glaucoma, HIV, AIDS, hepatitis C, ALS, muscular dystrophy, Crohn’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis.

Post-traumatic stress disorder was removed from the list during legislative negotiations over the final version of the bill, as was a provision that would have allowed patients or their caregivers to grow their own marijuana.

Patients will be allowed to buy marijuana at four dispensaries across the state whose locations are yet to be determined. Those sites are expected to open in 2015.

The House passed an earlier version of the bill in March, but Gov. Maggie Hassan expressed concerns about the home-growing provision and other aspects. After that provision was dropped in the Senate, she promised to sign the bill into law.

Before entering politics, Butynski, who has a Ph.D. in psychology, worked for 35 years in alcohol and drug treatment and prevention, he said.

“Marijuana, in fact, can be a dangerous drug, particularly for young people,” he said. “People can get addicted to marijuana. A number of people will say, ‘Oh that can’t happen,’ and those were people who maybe tried it 10 or 20 years ago, when it wasn’t the same potency.”

Still, Butynski was swayed by the bill’s restrictiveness.

“It may even be the bill can be improved over time,” he said. “I certainly recognize that some people believe very wholeheartedly that they are helped by using cannabis in a therapeutic way.”

State Rep. Henry A.L. Parkhurst, D-Winchester, was the only Democrat in the region to vote against the bill, as he did in March.

“There is still a federal ban on marijuana, and that’s my biggest sticking point,” he said. “I took an oath to uphold the United States Constitution. It’s a sticky wicket here. There are those on both sides that are very passionate with it.

“If a doctor prescribes it, then I think it should be legal, and as soon as the federal government says OK, you’ll have my vote,” he said. “I hate to hear about people suffering, and that something that can help them is illegal and criminal, but let’s do it legally,” at the federal level, he said.

State Rep. Charles F. Weed, D-Keene, however, believes the bill doesn’t go far enough.

“I think that our craze against marijuana is a kind of prohibition, so I’ve been in favor of ending that policy against many drugs for a long time,” he said. “I’m disappointed that we did not provide ways of taking care of those people who have the need in the next few years until we have dispensaries (in 2015), so they could use prescriptions to go to Maine or Vermont,” states that already passed medical marijuana laws.

State Sen. Bob Odell, R-Lempster, whose district includes the local towns of Acworth, Antrim, Bennington, Langdon, Marlow and Stoddard, did not support the bill.

“I’ve been very straightforward from day one,” he said Wednesday night. “I think it’s wrong to set up a separate system for just marijuana.

“It baffles me why ... we can’t come to the table and do something responsible,” he said. “Whatever the benefits are, have it come through the regular drug distribution system, including your local pharmacy, and have oversight and regulation and FDA approval.”

While Odell said he’s supportive of the concept of medical marijuana, “particularly for people in late stages of life ... I can’t imagine why we’re putting in 50 little drug businesses across the country.”

State Rep. Steven Smith, R-Charlestown, said it was easy for him to say “yea.”

“When you look at somebody that’s suffering and it isn’t ever going to get better, it’s hard to deny them that comfort,” he said Wednesday night.

Smith said that while some lawmakers had concerns that “we’ll get a lot of 20-year-olds who will go to the doctor and say, ‘Dude, my back hurts,’ “ he’s much more concerned about the problems presented by legal prescription medication such as Oxycontin.

“Others felt this would be a gateway (to legalization), but you have to vote on the bill that’s in front of you,” he said. “If we find the restrictions in this bill aren’t tight enough, we can work on it again next session.”

Susan M. MacNeil, executive director for AIDS Services for the Monadnock Region, said she was thrilled to hear the news of the bill’s passing because it will help her agency’s clients.

“The most important consideration for anyone who is HIV-positive is being able to tolerate their medication regimen, and if our clients can be helped in that regard, then that is something we certainly support,” she said.

Typical side effects for HIV and AIDS medications include extreme nausea, vomiting and inability to eat, she said.

“That’s the key with HIV meds; you don’t start and stop, you have to keep taking it,” she said. “This is just one more tool in our toolbox to help keep people with HIV as healthy as possible ... so to know the Legislature has done the right thing, the compassionate thing, that’s all good.”

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