HOUSE KILLS BILLS TO ALLOW MEDICAL MARIJUANA, HEMP

CONCORD — House members yesterday rejected bills to legalize marijuana for
medicinal use and to allow farmers to raise hemp in their fields.

Rep. Steve Vaillancourt, L-Manchester, said the medical marijuana bill he
sponsored, House Bill 721, would bring inexpensive relief to desperately
ill people. Marijuana eases the effects of nausea on cancer patients
undergoing chemotherapy, but opponents of legalization say there are
prescription drugs that work just as well.

"Any just society will not make these people criminals in their attempt to
get that drug any more than it would make them criminals in an attempt to
get morphine or any other medication," he said.

Rep. John Tholl, R-Whitefield, said if the bill became law it would create
problems for police and the federal government.

"This bill is entirely unenforceable. Police have no way to know who can
have it or who can't," Tholl said.

He said it would put New Hampshire directly in conflict with federal law
and could jeopardize federal law enforcement grants.

Tholl calculated that the bill would allow an individual to possess the
equivalent of 51 ounces of marijuana — a total of eight marijuana plants —
at any time even though a patient needs about 1 ounce per month to
alleviate pain and nausea.

Vaillancourt noted that while a drug called Marinal is available as a
substitute for marijuana, it costs about $600 a month. A supply of
marijuana would cost about $100 per month, he said. Besides, some are so
sick they cannot keep a pill down long enough for it to take effect, he said.

The bill was defeated, 223-101.

The House earlier voted down Rep. Derek Owen's plea to legalize the
production industrial hemp, 211-114.

Owen, D-Hopkinton, said farmers would be able to use the crop to diversify
and support their operations.

He said marijuana and hemp are related. But just as one can not produce
rope, paper, cloth or bedding from marijuana plants, one cannot get high
smoking hemp, Owen said.

"It's only a matter of time before the misplaced fears about the 'dangers'
of hemp are shown to be wrong," he said.

The plant can produce four times the pulp per acre that trees do, and
requires almost no pesticide, compared to cotton which requires heavy
applications against insects.

Rep. Harold Melcher , speaking for the majority of the Environment and
Agriculture Committee, noted that bill is opposed by law enforcement.
Federal laws make it illegal to raise hemp without a permit, he said.

"This argument is taking place in the wrong place. It should be taking
place in Congress and if we want a change, the DEA (Drug Enforcement
Administration) should repeal the law on hemp. Until that happens we have
no business trying to legislate over the federal government," Melcher said.

Owen argued that the bill only makes it legal to grow hemp if a DEA permit
is issued and was not intended to circumvent federal laws.

In an ironic twist, the House next voted to allocate $55,000 for a
Department of Agriculture study that would help farmers "promote and
maintain diversified agriculture in New Hampshire."