NH Gov. Lynch vows to keep vetoing medical marijuana, will veto decrim, too

NH Common Sense’s Matt Simon sent along this bit of analysis on the chances of medical marijuana passing in New Hampshire any time soon:

Dear Friends,

A lot of people have been asking me why Gov. Lynch vetoed the medical marijuana bill last year, and whether I think he will support it in the future.  Let’s go straight to the horse’s mouth and see what he had to say about medical marijuana in this Dec. 21 chat with former Gov. Stephen Merrill.

Here’s the transcript (key phrases in bold italics):

Lynch: I am very empathetic and sympathetic to those individuals who might benefit from the use of marijuana to treat their particular conditions, or disease, or symptoms, but I was also concerned and I remain concerned about the distribution of marijuana in the state.

If for example it were able to be confined within hospitals, I would be more open to that than allowing the possibility of it being open to unlimited distribution.  I’m very concerned about that.

As you know, New Hampshire was recently ranked the safest state in the country.  We should be pretty proud of that and we also should be very protective of what we have in place.  And I was concerned about that, certainly law enforcement… almost unanimously opposed that bill, so I ended up vetoing it.

Merrill: Do you think they are working in the legislature now to try to address the changes that you raised, and they’ll try to come back with a new bill and see if you’ll sign that one?

Lynch: Well, they may… you know, they may be working on it, but if it comes back in basically the same format with the same concerns that I have, I won’t let it go forward.

The comment about somehow confining medical marijuana use “within hospitals” shows how far apart the legislature and the Governor were from agreeing to terms on this issue in 2009.  (Federal regulations would make it impossible for hospitals to grow or distribute medical marijuana regardless of state law, and anyway, patients must certainly be able to use medical marijuana in their own homes!)  Confining marijuana cultivation and distribution to three state-regulated, non-profit compassion centers would have been the most tightly controlled medical marijuana policy in any state, but Governor Lynch did not just sound terribly interested in relieving the suffering of New Hampshire’s most seriously ill patients in 2009.  He refused to meet with patients, he tried to keep the bill from reaching his desk, and when push came to shove, he vetoed it.

Fortunately, 2009 is over, and Gov. Lynch has shown on other issues that he is capable of changing his position over time.  Legislators plan to reintroduce the medical marijuana bill in January of 2011, so perhaps after hearing from voters throughout the 2010 election campaign, Gov. Lynch (if he is still governor) will finally decide he shouldn’t obstruct the legislature’s efforts to protect seriously ill patients if their doctors recommend medical marijuana.

In other news, the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety has almost unanimously approved HB 1653, a bill that would simply reduce the penalty for possessing less than 1/4 ounce of marijuana, but Gov. Lynch’s office has already said he will veto the bill if it comes to his desk.  Again, his office appears to have no interest whatsoever in learning why a House committee decided marijuana policy reform was the right thing to do for NH!

If the spirit moves you, contact Gov. Lynch’s office today and politely express your extreme disappointment with his closed-mindedness and lack of leadership on marijuana policy reform issues.  It probably won’t help to cuss him out, but his office definitely needs to hear from large numbers of NH residents that their “Reefer Madness” approach to marijuana policy is out of touch with the people who actually live in the “Live Free or Die” state.

Sincerely,

Matt

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Matt Simon
Executive Director
NH Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy
NHCommonSense.org
Matt@NHCommonSense.org
(603) 391-7450