MY EXPERIENCE SHOWS WHY MEDICAL MARIJUANA MAKES SENSE, BY CANCER
SURVIVOR DENNIS ACTION

I am a cancer survivor and medical marijuana activist - and a
Republican. I am being featured in a 30 second ad on WMUR telling
about my experience when I was fighting cancer.

Doing this ad has been pretty traumatic. The last thing I wanted to
do is become a poster boy for this movement, especially as a
Republican. My wife is horrified, my friends are asking what the heck
I am doing, and the true impact of going on TV and admitting drug
use has yet to play out.

As a committed Republican activist, it has not been easy coming
forward and describing my experience with cancer and medical
marijuana. I kept quiet for years after I successfully used marijuana
to relieve my nausea when expensive prescription drugs had failed. I
didn't want this on my medical records, and I certainly didn't want
everyone to know that I had to break the law to find an effective
treatment.

I only recently came forward because I strongly believe that HB 648,
which recently passed the N.H. House and Senate, should become law in
New Hampshire. The bill would create the most tightly crafted medical
marijuana law in the country, and it will probably be used as a
model for other states that want to allow access but are concerned
about ensuring accountability and security. All legitimate concerns
about how the cultivation and dispensation of marijuana can be
controlled are addressed in the final version of the bill, which will
soon make its way to Gov. John Lynch's desk.

Unfortunately, most Republican leaders have been unwilling to
reconsider our party's longstanding opposition to medical marijuana.
A large majority of Republicans I have spoken to are in favor of the
bill, yet our leaders have dismissed the effort entirely.

A 2008 poll by Mason-Dixon Research found that 56 percent of New
Hampshire Republicans supported allowing medical marijuana, while
only 32 percent opposed it, so the disconnect between rank-and-file
Republicans and leadership on this issue can't be all in my head. The
same poll found that 71 percent of all New Hampshire voters support
medical marijuana, so it's obvious that opposing medical marijuana
can only hurt Republicans at the polls and further alienate us from
younger voters.

My own experience shows that medical marijuana is fiscally
responsible. I replaced a $1,600 prescription that didn't work that
well with $50 worth of marijuana. Passage of this bill would give
seriously ill patients access to a more affordable option to treat
their symptoms, possibly saving programs like Medicare and Medicaid
many thousands of dollars.

Allowing patients access to this medicine will also reduce the need
for expensive and dangerous painkillers such as Oxycontin and
Demerol. No one has ever overdosed on marijuana, while the CDC
counted 19,838 drug-overdose deaths in 2004, up from 11,155 in 1999.
Most of these deaths were from legally prescribed medications, some
available over the counter. By reducing the need for these hard drugs
to control pain, nausea and other ailments, medical marijuana can
reduce these tragic numbers significantly.

We also should remember the needs of those who have faced painkiller
addiction in the past and can't use these drugs anymore to relieve
their suffering. Many admit that marijuana works for them, but they
too must break the law to use a less dangerous and nonaddictive
herbal medicine.

If this bill does become law, New Hampshire will have a medical
marijuana program that is responsible and well-managed. The senators
and representatives who sponsored and wrote this bill have worked
tirelessly to ensure that the program will work and should be
commended for their efforts.

It is wrong to think that the compassion centers called for in this
bill will be like the clubs in California, where abuse of their
medical marijuana law has hurt efforts to provide access in the rest
of the country. The sole purpose of HB 648 is to provide relief to a
small group of severely and terminally ill patients in our
communities, and it will achieve that purpose if Governor Lynch
simply allows it to become law.

This shouldn't be about politics. It should be about doing the right
thing.