AFTER LAWMAKERS' OK, MARIJUANA BILL GOES TO LYNCH

CONCORD -- With little controversy, the New Hampshire Legislature
sought to make this the 14th state to give the chronically ill
access to marijuana to relieve their suffering.

The House of Representatives approved the latest compromise late
Wednesday, 232-108. The state Senate endorsed it, 14-10.

But the bill (HB 648) still faces its stiffest test from three-term
Democratic Gov. John Lynch, who has yet to say whether he can accept
a new compromise.

Lynch told reporters his biggest concern was an earlier bill that
made it too easy for residents to cultivate marijuana, a substance
that would remain illegal to possess under federal criminal law.

"I will be reading it very carefully with that as my guide," Lynch said.

Earlier this month, Lynch told legislative supporters that he would
have vetoed a bill that allowed residents or designated caregivers
to grow their own marijuana.

House and Senate leaders spent the past three weeks trying to
address the Lynch-cited shortcomings. The compromise would create
three, nonprofit "compassion centers" where patients and caregivers
could obtain marijuana.

Sen. Peggy Gilmour, D-Hollis, had worked on the compromise and is a
co-founder of the state's first hospice for the terminally ill.

"We have constructed the most restrictive law in the land," Gilmour
said. "Our committee worked very hard to take every concern the
governor had and try to ameliorate them."

Rep. Cindy Rosenwald, D-Nashua, chaired the House-Senate working
group that produced a rewritten bill.

But Rep. David Hess, R-Hooksett, a former state prosecutor, said the
bill makes it impossible for local law enforcement to report on
illegal pot users to federal authorities.

"This legislation before us puts our local and state law enforcement
officers in an impossible situation," Hess said. "It requires them
to violate their oath to uphold the laws and regulations of the
United States of America."

He also quarreled with the fact that compassion centers had to be at
least 500 feet from a school, only half the distance of federally
designated drug-free school zones.

State Rep. Daniel Eaton, D-Stoddard, said passing the bill is the
humane thing to do.

"Sick individuals should be called patients and not criminals,"
Eaton said. "Our friends, our neighbors going through the darkest,
most painful hours of their lives should be afforded the same
compassion and relief as residents in 13 other states."

Among issues Lynch and his staff raised were whether the definition
of eligible patients was too broad, if there should be criminal
background checks for all caregivers and if the bill compels
landlords to rent to patients or caregivers who grow or possess marijuana.

Under the bill, a person with a "debilitating medical condition" or
designated caregiver could obtain up to two ounces of marijuana.

Attorney General Kelly Ayotte and nine of the state's 10 county
attorneys oppose the bill because possessing marijuana violates federal law.

States that now allow medical marijuana include Maine, Rhode Island
and Vermont.

The compromise makes clear that it remains against the law to drive
a car or boat under the influence of marijuana or to smoke in public
and that no health insurer can be compelled to cover the cost of its use.