NH - Marijuana Debate Sharpens

Marijuana Debate Sharpens
Posted by CN Staff on May 14, 2009 at 07:00:25 PT
By Lauren R. Dorgan, Monitor Staff
Source: Concord Monitor

New Hampshire -- State Attorney General Kelly Ayotte and county prosecutors have aggressively pushed back against a bill that would legalize marijuana for some seriously ill patients, sending lawmakers a letter calling marijuana an addictive drug and claiming that reclassifying marijuana as medicine could undermine efforts to keep youths from trying drugs. The bill's supporters decry the letter as "misleading" and have circulated a seven-page rebuttal of the two-page letter.

The bill easily passed the House in March and the Senate last month, but its future remains in doubt. Gov. John Lynch has stopped short of vowing to veto it, saying he has "serious concerns" and calling the Senate version of the bill "unacceptable." In the House, supporters put the brakes on the bill last week, voting not to accept the Senate's amendments to the bill and instead calling for a conference committee to hammer out a final bill - with an eye toward crafting something Lynch will accept.

State Rep. Cindy Rosenwald said she met with senior Lynch staffers and left certain that Lynch would veto the current incarnation of the bill if it was sent to his desk. She left the meeting with a list of eight issues flagged by the governor's staff, the most difficult one of which is distribution. The current bill would allow medicinal marijuana users - individuals who suffer from specific illnesses or symptoms, who've been prescribed the drug by a doctor and who have registered with the state - to grow their own marijuana. They're also allowed to obtain it from other patients, including those from patients in one of the 13 states where medicinal marijuana is legal. Lynch, Rosenwald said, is "not comfortable with marijuana grown in residences."

"I was absolutely clear when I left the meeting that he would not allow the Senate version to become law," said Rosenwald, a Nashua Democrat. That, she said, "is why I asked for a committee of conference."

Debate over Ayotte's letter is a microcosm of debate over the bill itself, an argument in which the urge to help human suffering competes against fears about human frailty, where practical considerations meet a backdrop of the decades-long national fight over marijuana policy, including questions over whether the drug is addictive and whether it is a "gateway" to other drugs.

Matt Simon, the executive director of the New Hampshire Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy, distributed a seven-page response to Ayotte's letter peppered with footnotes. The response says the letter co-signed by Ayotte and nine of the state's 10 county attorneys "makes several points that are simply incorrect and several other misleading statements," in particular taking on claims about marijuana as an addictive, gateway drug.

"I wish they would cite their sources and say where they're getting their information," Simon said in an interview yesterday.

Ayotte said she stands by every point in the letter and said there's no incarnation of a medicinal marijuana law that she could support. In addition to concerns cited in the letter, she cited practical concerns and noted that marijuana hasn't been through a normal approval process by the Food and Drug Administration. Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, she said, despite the recent statements by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder pledging not to raid marijuana dispensaries that are legal under state law.

"I have to say that, despite the attorney general's statement, the law, the federal law is still the same," Ayotte said. "It's against federal law. The law hasn't changed."

Medicinal Validity?

Ayotte's letter cut to the heart of the bill, questioning the medicinal value of marijuana use.

"In fact, marijuana is an addictive drug that poses significant health consequences to its users, including those who may be using it for medical purposes," the letter said. "The use of smoked marijuana is opposed by all credible medical groups nationwide."

Matt Simon, the executive director of the New Hampshire Coalition for Common Sense Marijuana Policy, called that claim "simply untrue" and "the most frustrating." His response includes a list of several dozen medical groups that have "favorable medical marijuana positions," including the American Academy of Physicians, the American Nurses Association and the American Public Health Association.

Not on the list: the New Hampshire Medical Society, which is not taking a position on this bill. Also missing is the American Medical Association, which for years has called for further study of medicinal marijuana, a position that is extremely common among medical groups.

In a 2001 report, the AMA noted evidence that marijuana has helped those suffering from certain ailments, such as HIV wasting syndrome or chemotherapy-induced nausea, but concluded that a dearth of serious study into the benefits and risks of the drugs prevented the group from endorsing the drug.

"The lack of this evidence base continues to hamper development of rational public policy," the association report said.

The American Academy of Physicians went a step further last year, calling for a review of marijuana's current classification federally as a schedule 1 drug, the most serious classification, for drugs that lack medicinal use and carry a high potential for abuse, along with LSD and heroin. Cocaine is a schedule 2 drug.

"A clear discord exists between the scientific community and federal legal and regulatory agencies over the medicinal value of marijuana, which impedes the expansion of research," the report said. It concluded: "Evidence not only supports the use of medical marijuana in certain conditions but also suggests numerous indications for cannabinoids. Additional research is needed to further clarify the therapeutic value of cannabinoids and determine optimal routes of administration. The science on medical marijuana should not be obscured or hindered by the debate surrounding the legalization of marijuana for general use."

Ayotte said those reports don't counter her claim that medical groups oppose smoking the drug.

"I think the letter expressly says that smoked marijuana is opposed by medical groups," she said.

It's unquestionably true that many medical groups have often urged scientific research into ways of getting the medicinal benefits of cannabinoids that don't involve smoking. A 1999 report by the Institute of Medicine, for example, likened smoking marijuana to smoking cigarettes: "Smoking marijuana is clearly harmful, especially in people with chronic conditions, and is not an ideal drug delivery system."

As for addiction, the Institute of Medicine report found that a "vulnerable subpopulation" of marijuana users may be at risk of becoming dependent but considered addiction "relatively rare" compared with other drugs.

Simon said marijuana's potential for dependence should be considered in the context of other drugs, such as cigarettes, alcohol and painkillers.

"The addiction possibility of pharmaceutical painkillers are off the charts compared to marijuana," Simon said.

Other Concerns

Ayotte's letter also delves into longstanding debates about marijuana policy, including whether it is a "gateway drug."

"One of the most harmful consequences of marijuana use is the role it plays in leading to the use of other illegal drugs. Studies have shown that very few young people turn to illegal drugs such as cocaine or heroin without first experimenting with marijuana," Ayotte's letter said. "The New Hampshire law enforcement community works diligently to discourage young people from venturing down that path. Those efforts will be significantly undermined by the passage of legislation legalizing the use of marijuana to any degree."

Simon said that claim had no merit. "The gateway theory has never been substantiated by any science, despite repeated attempts to prove its validity," he said.

He pointed to the 1999 Institute of Medicine Report, which found there was no conclusive evidence that marijuana's drug effects cause users to move on to other drugs.

"In the sense that marijuana use typically precedes rather than follows initiation of other illicit drug use, it is indeed a 'gateway' drug," the report found. "But because underage smoking and alcohol use typically precede marijuana use, marijuana is not the most common, and is rarely the first, 'gateway' to illicit drug use. There is no conclusive evidence that the drug effects of marijuana are causally linked to the subsequent abuse of other illicit drugs."

Ayotte said her experience as a prosecutor has shown otherwise. She said if she were to ask officers of the undercover drug task force, which is run through her office, "many of them would tell me that, unfortunately, marijuana is a gateway drug."

Ayotte's deputy, Assistant Attorney Karin Eckel, pointed to another part of the Institute of Medicine report that dealt with the gateway drug question. The report discussed marijuana as an entree into the social environment of drug use, a theory that is "supported, although not proven, by the available data."

Sen. Kathy Sgambati, a Tilton Democrat who supported the bill, said she didn't find the gateway drug debate relevant to the medicinal marijuana bill. She was moved, she said, by testimony from cancer patients and others who said they'd been able to find relief by smoking marijuana. Many of those who testified had legal access to extremely potent medicines, she said.

"Ninety percent at least of the people who testified have medicine chests full of opiates," Sgambati said. "So this is not somebody seeking a stronger drug."

Only one of the 10 county attorneys didn't sign the letter: Coos County's Bob Mekeel. He cited two reasons.

"The first is, really just as a general principle. It's my job to enforce the laws. It's not my job to make them," he said. "I just don't think it's appropriate to tell the Legislature what the law ought to be."

His second: As a personal-injury lawyer for 25 years, he represented people who were in "terrible plights" and had lost limbs.

"In those instances, really if anyone in that situation can get relief from anything, I just don't think I should stand in the way of that," Mekeel said.

So far, he said, he hasn't heard much negative feedback on his stance, he said.

"I just think reasonable minds can disagree," he said.

Source: Concord Monitor (NH)
Author: Lauren R. Dorgan, Monitor Staff
Published: May 14, 2009
Copyright: 2009 Monitor Publishing Company
Contact: [email protected]
Website: Concord Monitor Online - Concord, NH 03301 - The news you need now
URL: Concord Monitor - Marijuana debate sharpens

Governor should sign medical marijuana bill

The bill that would allow sick New Hampshire residents to use medical marijuana with a doctorâ??s approval has passed both the House and Senate and is overwhelmingly supported by New Hampshire residents.

Unfortunately, misinformation from Attorney General Kelly Ayotte may lead Gov. John Lynch to veto the bill.

It is sad that Ayotte would spread falsehoods about medical marijuana to New Hampshire residents and the governor. Claiming that â??the use of smoked marijuana is opposed by all credible medical groups nationwide,â?� Ayotte is either telling a bold-faced lie or has crafted her opinion on the issue without doing any research.

If she had, she would easily have found many organizations such as the American Academy of Physicians, the American Nurses Association and the American Public Health Association support medical marijuana.

Ayotte also states that marijuana is a gateway drug, yet gives no sources for this claim, probably because no study has ever supported that marijuana is a gateway drug.

Thirteen states have already passed legislation allowing sick residents to use medical marijuana. The sky has not fallen, and all of the states have either kept their law in place or expanded it after evaluating its success. Rhode Island is a perfect example.

These laws are put in place to ensure that only the sickest people have access to marijuana and that they can use it without fear of arrest or imprisonment â?? freeing up New Hampshire police resources for serious crimes.

An attorney general that uses false information to make her point is a dangerous one for any issue, especially one that deals with the well being of sick New Hampshire residents suffering from cancer, multiple sclerosis and HIV/AIDS.

If Lynch wants information about the validity of this medical marijuana bill, he should contact health experts such as the American Nurses Association and not rely on misinformation.

Jonathan Perri
Outreach Director
Students for Sensible Drug Policy
San Francisco, Calif.

EDITORâ??S NOTE: The author is an alumnus of Franklin Pierce University in Rindge.
Sunday, May 31, 2009

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