MEDICAL MARIJUANA DEBATE CONTINUES IN HOUSE

After more than a two-year battle, legalized marijuana is still far
from a reality, but its advocates continued the fight Wednesday,
speaking before the media and a N.H. House Criminal Justice
subcommittee.

Two bills -- one to decriminalize marijuana possession, another to
allow its cultivation and possession for medicinal uses -- are on the
legislative calendar, both sponsored by Rep. Timothy N. Robertson,
D-Keene. Robertson has proposed similar bills in past sessions.

This time, five or six of the full committee's 22 members listened to
a pair of experts in the field. Most of the discussion centered on the
medical uses of marijuana.

Lester Grinspoon, a Harvard Medical School professor and a board
member of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana, spoke
at length of the drug's use as a painkiller and nausea panacea. He
also touched on marijuana's underground availability, recounting an
experience in Boston where he saw a group of teenagers trade joints
for a six-pack of beer.

The conclusion: Pot is available to them, though it is illegal, while
alcohol is harder to come by.

Armed with Grinspoon's account, Robertson said after the session that
marijuana should be treated like beer or tobacco, thus keeping it only
in the hands of adults.

Nicholas Pastore, former New Haven, Conn., police chief, said the
nation's war on drugs has a failure. The jails are full of marijuana
smokers who have no history of violence and pose no danger to society,
he said.

Bedford Police Chief David Bailey argued the other way, saying it's
important to fight marijuana for children's sake.

However, Robertson said after the forum that his children were the
ones who taught him about the issue. They told him adults think
marijuana is "the end of the world" when in fact it isn't dangerous
and typically doesn't lead to other drugs.

That was years ago: Robertson's children are all now close to 40.
Then, legalization was a pipe dream, but now, with states such as
California and Arizona allowing marijuana to be used as medicine,
Robertson's viewpoint is growing in popularity.

Still, Robertson is realistic. The bills could be on the House floor
as early as March 18, but their chances of passing are slim. Virtually
nonexistent.

"I assume we'll get 30 or 40 votes" in the 400-member House, Robertson
said. "But we'll have educated some people."

Rep. Kathleen M. Flora, R-Bedford, a committee member, said the bill's
chief problem is that it doesn't ensure that only the sick will have
access to the drug. If medicinal marijuana is on the horizon, Flora
said, "it needs to be regulated in such a way that we maintain
controls so it's treated as a medicine."

The bills would allow people to grow marijuana, though obtaining seeds
would violate federal law. But even if these legal snags are
untangled, Flora still had doubts.

"I'm not sure it's right for New Hampshire," she said.