POT IS MEDICINE: LET THE ILL USE IT

Marijuana use can produce lots of outcomes that are not socially
desirable. It also can alleviate horrible symptoms of numerous
chronic illnesses and, recent research is showing, actually fight
some types of cancer.

The psychological effects of marijuana use have been well-documented
for decades. Its medical effects have been revealed more recently.
They show without a doubt that smoking marijuana has significant
benefits for some seriously sick people. With the growing body of
evidence revealing just how helpful marijuana can be for some of the
chronically ill, the case against making it available to them has
gone up in smoke.

New Hampshire's House of Representatives has passed a bill, House
Bill 648, to make the medicinal use of marijuana legal under tightly
controlled circumstances. The bill would require a doctor's
prescription and a state-issued permit for legal marijuana use. The
amount a patient or his caregiver could possess would be limited to
two ounces, six seeds and six plants.

As medical marijuana bills go, this one is narrowly crafted to
alleviate the suffering of people with debilitating illnesses while
avoiding a dangerous increase in the illicit drug trade. It might
need some more tweaks before final passage, but overall it is well written.

Marijuana has been proven highly effective at alleviating the side
effects of chemotherapy and other treatments for a long list of
chronic illnesses, including cancer and glaucoma. It can even
stimulate the appetites of cancer patients on chemotherapy, which
notoriously weakens appetite. The National Cancer Institute confirms
that inhaling smoked marijuana delivers these therapeutic benefits
more effectively than taking pills that contain the same active ingredient.

New research even suggests that although smoking pot while young
increases the odds of testicular cancer in men, marijuana can kill
lung and brain cancer cells.

We understand the concerns of law enforcement officials who oppose
this bill. But at this point, withholding the proven medical benefits
of smoked marijuana from those extremely ill patients who cannot be
helped by any other treatment would amount to a cruel deprivation of
necessary medical care. The Senate should pass the bill.