MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL NEARING LYNCH'S DESK

CONCORD -- The controversial bill to legally let those with
debilitating illness use marijuana to relieve pain is one person away
from getting to the desk of Gov. John Lynch.

The bill (HB 648) needs the signature of Senate President Sylvia
Larsen before it goes to Lynch, according to Assistant Secretary of
State Paula Penney.

Once the bill is Lynch's possession, the governor has five days to
decide whether to sign, veto the bill or let it become law without
his signature. Sundays and holidays don't count during this five-day
waiting period.

Rep. Cindy Rosenwald, D-Nashua, was an instrumental member of a
House-Senate negotiating committee that made significant changes to
the bill in May.

This had come after Lynch told sponsors and Rosenwald that he would
have vetoed the bill as originally written and earlier adopted by
both branches of the NH Legislature.

Late last month, the Legislature adopted the revised bill and the
lobby pushing for the measure have aired radio and television
commercials urging Lynch to sign it.

The three-term, Democratic Gov. Lynch repeated last week he had not
made up his mind but would watch closely if the new rewrite had
addressed his concerns about "distribution."

The altered bill would remove an earlier right for patients and
caregivers to cultivate their own marijuana for use as long as they
suffered from eligible, medical ailments.

The final compromise restricts possession of the marijuana solely to
three and eventually as many as five, private, nonprofit "compassion
centers" presumably located in the southern tier of the state.

Patients could then receive up to two ounces of marijuana for
medicinal use every 10 days from these compassion centers.

Advocates explain that to avoid the harmful, side effects of smoking
pot, patients would consume in one sitting larger quantities either
by ingesting it cooked in other food products or inhaling the fumes.