MEMO TO GOVERNOR: SIGN MARIJUANA BILL

Back in the 1980s, there was a popular series of TV commercials that
extolled the virtues of a particular stock brokerage firm.

In one such commercial, an elementary school teacher calls on one of
her young charges to recite the alphabet. When the young girl gets a
few letters into it, she pauses: "E. . . F . . . EF Hutton."

Immediately, all her classmates rush to crowd around her, cup a hand
to their ears and remain absolutely motionless.

When EF Hutton talks," the announcer says, "people
listen."

Well, given Gov. John Lynch's reluctance to embrace medical marijuana
legislation this session, you can't blame supporters of the bill if
they feel a bit like the students craning their necks to hear what the
little girl has to say.

For every time the governor has expressed reservations over a
particular aspect of the bill (HB 648), they have jumped through hoops
to make the issue go away.

Consider:

Don't like the provision about the sick or their caretakers
cultivating marijuana in their own homes, even though it's done that
way in the other 13 states where medical marijuana is legal?

Fine. Let's create three regulated "compassion centers" where
marijuana could be grown and dispersed to patients throughout the state.

Feel the definition of a "debilitating medical condition" is too broad
and would apply to too many ill patients?

No problem. Let's narrow it down to specific chronic or terminal
illnesses with even more specific symptoms.

Worried that the bill does not empower the state Division of Health
and Human Services to run background checks on caregivers to ensure
they weren't ever convicted of a drug-related offense?

Piece of cake. Let's just add language to require caregivers and
compassion center workers to submit themselves to state and federal
criminal background checks.

Since the bill originally passed the House of Representatives on a
vote of 234-138 in March and the state Senate by a 14-10 margin in
April, lawmakers have done everything the governor has asked to ease
his reservations.

So now that both the House (232-108) and the Senate (14-10) gave their
stamp of approval to the amended 21-page measure one week ago today,
there is only one thing left for the governor to do when the bill
finally reaches his desk.

Sign it.

We understand the political ramifications of backing any legislation
that is opposed by your attorney general and nine of the state's 10
county attorneys.

And, yes, we understand the political ramifications of backing any
legislation that has the potential of sending a signal to our young
people that smoking marijuana is OK.

Well, this is one of those times when "reality" trumps
"message."

For these chronically ill individuals suffering from cancer, multiple
sclerosis, HIV or other diseases - who can't stomach the side effects
of heavy-duty painkillers such as OxyContin, Percocet and Vicodin -
there is no legitimate reason why they shouldn't be able to find a
little comfort in their less than comfortable existence.

It's not like we're talking about something experimental here. The
cannabis plant from which marijuana is derived was used to overcome
hunger and thirst in pre-1,000 B.C. India. In ancient Greece, it was
used in cases of earache, edema and inflammation. And, in A.D. 200, a
Chinese physician began prescribing it to ease pain in surgical procedures.

Governor, the time has come to do the right thing. Supporters of this
bill have done everything you have asked. There is only one thing left
to do. Sign the bill.

[sidebar]

KEY POINTS

BACKGROUND: Both the House and Senate have passed legislation that
would make the use of medical marijuana legal under limited
circumstances.

CONCLUSION: Gov. John Lynch should sign the bill, which would make New
Hampshire the 14th state in the nation with such a law on the books.

[sidebar]

The Pot Debate

How well is the legal crackdown on marijuana working: Is it a good way
to reduce drug abuse, or a waste of money? The Pot Debate series looks
at the issue, examining the opinions of those who make the law, those
who enforce it, and those who run afoul of it.