MARIJUANA BILL SENT TO LYNCH

Sponsor 'Hesitant To Get Too Excited'

Legislators voted yesterday to legalize marijuana for some seriously
ill patients, sending Gov. John Lynch a bill he said he has yet to
study.

If passed into law, New Hampshire would become the 14th state to allow
medicinal marijuana use for severely sick patients. In a move geared
to winning the governor's approval, senators and representatives
passed a bill that - unlike versions passed in March and April - would
not allow patients to grow marijuana at home.

Supporters congratulated one another after the House vote yesterday,
but Rep. Evalyn Merrick, the bill's sponsor and a cancer patient, said
she would temper her celebration.

"I'm hesitant to get too excited until I hear from the governor," said
Merrick, a Democrat from Lancaster. "I respect and admire the
governor, and I believe the decision he's going to make is going to be
the right one."

Lynch had previously expressed concern about the distribution method
in the original bill - which would allow patients to grow marijuana on
their property - saying he thought if marijuana is to be treated as a
prescription drug, its distribution should be as tightly controlled as
that of other prescription drugs.

Yesterday, Lynch declined to say whether he would veto the final bill,
saying he had not had time to consider it.

"I haven't read the bill that has come out of committee of
conference," he said.

The bill passed yesterday would establish three nonprofit "compassion
centers" to be licensed and inspected by the state. Patients would not
be allowed to grow their own marijuana or obtain it from other
permitted users, and center workers would undergo background checks.

The changes should allay concerns about security and distribution,
said Rep. Cindy Rosenwald, a Nashua Democrat and chairwoman of the
House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee.

"Now we're talking about three places in the state under lock and
key," she said after the House vote.

Earlier versions had allowed people with "debilitating medical
conditions" to grow and possess up to six marijuana plants after a
doctor's recommendation and registration with the state. Legislators
stopped short of finalizing a version that both houses agreed upon
when they learned Lynch would likely veto a bill without tighter
control over the growth and distribution of the plant.

Merrick, the bill's sponsor, said the new version hammered out by a
House and Senate conference committee would become "the national
standard" in medicinal marijuana legislation.

To qualify for marijuana use, patients with a chronic or terminal
disease would have to suffer symptoms of the disease or the side
effects of treatment for three months. Marijuana use would not be
approved when standard drugs or treatments could relieve pain or nausea.

The bill passed the Senate 14-10 and the House 232-108. There was
little debate. Rep. David Hess, a Republican from Hooksett, asked
legislators to reject a bill that would contradict federal drug laws
and put New Hampshire law enforcement "in an impossible position."

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in March that federal drug
raids would target only people breaking state as well as federal law.
State Attorney General Kelly Ayotte has spoken out against the bill,
arguing that marijuana use leads to the use of other drugs and that
any legalization would compromise enforcement.