NH Vetoes Medical Marijuana
July 12, 2009 by Marijke Durning, RN
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
New Hampshire won’t be joining 13 U.S. states in allowing the use of medical marijuana – at least not any time soon. The governor, John Lynch, vetoed the bill that would have allowed the use of medicinal marijuana by severely ill people.
I’ve written about legalizing marijuana for medical reasons (It’s time to legalize marijuana for pain control, Marijuana may be effective for neuropathic pain, and Author of How-To Marijuana, Step-by-Step Guide to Medical Marijuana, to list a few). It has so many uses in helping people with serious illnesses and chronic pain. Opponents bring up the safety issue of carrying medicinal pot and to that I way: Get real.
Do you know what doctors and nurses give now to people in severe pain? Morphine, Demerol, methadone (yes, methadone) and I’ve even administered suppositories of opium and belladonna. All perfectly legal and safe. If we can handle those types of medications, you can’t tell me we can’t handle marijuana safely.
And yet, thousands of people (if not millions) who could benefit from this drug are being denied that right.
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Image: Newscom.com
When politicians ignore the will of the voters, they are no longer useful. Marijuana prohibition has been a total failure and is perhaps this country’s greatest mistake. Not only has it created criminals out of nearly a third of the country’s populace, it costs our society billions of dollars every year, creates a strain on our prison system, and has little or no effect on marijuana use in the US. In some cases, prosecuting marijuana use has turned non-violent, middle class kids into violent and unpredictable, career criminals. Once a person has a criminal conviction on their record, they are far less likely to find a good job and become a useful member of society. Other countries with more liberal drug laws have much lower rates of drug addiction among their people. I invite you to my web-page devoted to raising awareness on the assault on our civil liberties: http://freethegods.blogspot.com/