Marijuana Policy Project

For people like Clayton Holton, Wednesday was a good day.

First, the state House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee voted 13-7 to support an amended version of HB 648 that would permit the use of marijuana for medical purposes if prescribed by a physician.

Later, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. announced that the Department of Justice would refrain from targeting distributors of medical marijuana in states where such use of the drug is legal, thereby reversing a Bush administration practice.

As you may recall, Holton is the 23-year-old Somersworth resident who was prominently featured on the final day of our three-day "Pot Debate" series last month. He admits to using marijuana to keep up his appetite and help ease the pain from a rare form of muscular dystrophy that has kept him wheelchair-bound for most of his life.

Holton, who at 6 feet tall once weighed as little as 79 pounds, also was among those individuals who testified in favor of the bill at a committee hearing earlier this month.

While there is no guarantee that the bill will make it through the Legislature this year, we hope the committee's positive recommendation will prove to be the impetus to make New Hampshire the 14th state in the nation with medical marijuana laws on the books.

If so, it would join three other New England states — Maine, Rhode Island and Vermont — that permit the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

Sponsored by Lancaster Democrat Evalyn Merrick, who acknowledges smoking marijuana to help ease the nausea of cancer treatments a few years ago, the bill would legalize the use of marijuana for individuals with certain "debilitating medical conditions," such as AIDS, cancer, glaucoma and HIV.

The language also covers individuals suffering from conditions or treatment that result in severe pain, nausea, seizures, muscle spasms and other symptoms.

If approved, qualifying individuals would receive a registry identification card from the Department of Health and Human Services permitting them to possess up to six plants and 2 ounces of useable marijuana.The movement by states to legalize the medical use of marijuana was enhanced by a 1999 report issued by the Institute of Medicine that found "a potential therapeutic value for cannabinoid drugs, particularly for symptoms such as pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation."

The institute also concluded that there was "no convincing data" to suggest that making the drug legal for this purpose would lead to a rise in recreational marijuana use in the general population.

Besides the Institute of Medicine, a number of organizations have taken positions in support of the medical use of marijuana, including the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Public Health Association and the New England Journal of Medicine.

Still, the New Hampshire bill faces many obstacles on its way to the governor's desk, not the least of which is that the House has rejected four similar bills in the past eight years.

And even if it were to make its way through both chambers, Gov. John Lynch already has indicated he has concerns with the legislation.

For a state that prides itself on individual freedoms, we believe this is a reasonable approach to help ease the suffering of chronically ill patients who can't tolerate the side effects associated with heavy-duty painkillers such as OxyContin, Vicodin and Percocet.

As we said in this space back in 2005, it would be the "merciful thing to do."