cannabisnews.com: House Bill Would Legalize Medical Use of Marijuana House Bill Would Legalize Medical Use of Marijuana Posted by FoM on March 07, 2001 at 17:45:03 PT By Kevin Landrigan, Telegraph Staff Source: Telegraph Will, a 49-year-old health care worker, risked losing his privacy and his professional license Monday but wanted a legislative committee to know the medical relief he got from smoking marijuana. A Merrimack resident and respiratory therapist, Will said he used pot for 18 months to deal with the vomiting, nausea and sweats that came from intravenous drug treatment for Hepatitis C, a deadly virus. “Marijuana would mitigate these side effects. I was allowed to stay fully employed and that would not have been the case without marijuana,’’ Will told the House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee in a hearing on legalizing medical use of marijuana (HB 721).Will insisted he did not find the need to increase his use of marijuana.“You feel so lousy. You aren’t trying to get a buzz on. You are trying to feel all right,’’ he said.But Enfield Police Chief Peter Giese, representing the New Hampshire Police Chiefs Association said the group opposes the bill. He insisted the agenda was more about drug legalization than alleviating suffering. “I am here because we believe this is nothing more than an entree into the legalization debate,’’ Giese said. “This is a bill to legalize marijuana in the state of New Hampshire. If this debate were about relieving suffering, why not just make heroin available on demand?’’If adopted, the state risks losing federal money because proscribing marijuana for medical use is against federal law, Giese warned. Janet Monahan of the New Hampshire Medical Society said her organization joins the American Medical Association to oppose the smoking of marijuana for any reasons.“Patients currently have a pill form of marijuana (Marinol) available to them for relief of symptoms and side effects caused by certain medical conditions and treatments,’’ Monahan said.John Dalco, a former doctor and mental health care consultant for the insurance industry, said studies have not shown marijuana to be an indispensable drug for pain caused by any condition.Scientific research has shown it can help with sickness associated with cancer chemotherapy and counteract the loss of appetite for patients with the AIDS virus, but other legal drugs work as well, he said. “There are a lot of drugs on the market that don’t have the side effects that marijuana has,’’ Dalco said.“It does relieve pain. But will a physician prescribe its use in a state when it’s barred by the federal government? I would be very intimidated by the FDA,” he said, referring to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.The House of Representatives has rejected similar bills three of the past four years. Rep. John Tholl, R-Whitefield, a retired state trooper and part-time police chief in Dalton, said the bill would allow a patient to possess enough pot to use for 51 months, which Tholl considered “extremely excessive.’’Kevin Landrigan can be reached at 224-8804. Source: Telegraph (NH) Author: Kevin Landrigan, Telegraph Staff Published: Tuesday, March 06, 2001Address: P.O. Box 1008, Nashua N.H. 03061 Copyright 2001 Telegraph Publishing Company Contact: letters telegraph-nh.com Website: http://www.nashuatelegraph.com Related Articles:HB721 Bill Would Legalize Medical Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8890.shtmlPanel Hears Bill to Legalize Marijuana as Medicinehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8902.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #8 posted by NiftySplifty on March 08, 2001 at 18:51:24 PT Heroin at the arcade. If this debate were about relieving suffering, why not just make heroin available on demand?Not that this would be a bad idea (not throwing users in jail, as opposed to "puting it in a vending machine at the arcade" which is what they mean by "make heroin available on demand"), but is there anyone who is promoting the use of heroin? As far as heroin being an anti-emetic (in the context of MMJ), isn't vomiting a common side-effect of heroin use? This would apparently be a rather useless medicine.Just a thought.N... [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by zenarch on March 08, 2001 at 08:00:02 PT is he a closet legalizer with a Freudian slip? If adopted, the state risks losing federal money because proscribing marijuana for medical use is against federal law, Giese warned.but I think that proscribing marijuana for any reason should be against federal law! [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by ekim on March 08, 2001 at 06:02:03 PT: Dr.DeQuattro on the Kubby Trial What's more, the side-effects of smoking marijuana day and night for 15 years appear to be zero. Dr.DeQuattro said his team tested Kubby for cognitive function before and after smoking and found his mind, memory and motor skills unimpaired. But the discovery that really jolted them was the lungs. Here they had a subject who admittedly smoked a couple hundred joints a month for 15 years -- a perfect opportunity to measure the damage from chronic high level consumption – but they couldn't find any. "His respiratory functions are the same as for someone who never smoked at all." more info atwww.marijuananews.com [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by kaptinemo on March 08, 2001 at 04:53:42 PT: A plague of 'experts'. I'm sure many of us can remember the neighborhood know-it-all, the one person who thought they knew so much about everything, but in fact was quite ignorant, and nearly everyone knew it.Generally, such people are harmless; they usually gravitate to positions commensurate with their (lack of) ability. Like pumping gas.But when such people inhabit positions of responsibility, where their incompetence can adversely affect whole communities, you have a problem. When you allow such people to make policy, you really have a problem.For example:'Janet Monahan of the New Hampshire Medical Society said her organization joins the American Medical Association to oppose the smoking of marijuana for any reasons.“Patients currently have a pill form of marijuana (Marinol) available to them for relief of symptoms and side effects caused by certain medical conditions and treatments,’’ Monahan said.Let's see. No "M.D." after her name; is she a doctor? A clinician? A specialist? Where did she attend med school? Has she ever spent any time as a caregiver on a cancer ward, or in home care?More likely, her credentials include an "Esq." after her surname. A hired gun, a mouthpiece. Parroting what she's been told to say...by equally ignorant 'experts'. And then we have:"John Dalco, a former doctor and mental health care consultant for the insurance industry, said studies have not shown marijuana to be an indispensable drug for pain caused by any condition."Oh, really? Perhaps the 'doctor' would care to inject himself with serum from a cancer victim, be forced to undergo chemo, and find out the awful truth about the lack of efficacy of most commercially available anti-emetics. (Of course, working for an insurance company, he is far more likely to be in cahoots with the pharmaceutical companies that push such useless - and incredibly expensive crap - on chemo sufferers. One of the most common ones, called Kytril, is $50 USD a pill.) Yep, the more I think about it, the more I am forced to agree with my Irish grandparents that when ignorant people speak, it's no different than hearing a dog bark. You get a lot of noise, but learn nothing from it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on March 07, 2001 at 21:53:57 PT My 2 cents I find articles that insult people inhaling Cannabis very bothersome anymore. When you are sick and vomiting you can't keep necessary medicine down. Smoking Cannabis will stop the nausea and allow a person to feel a little better. You get instant relief from smoking unlike a pill and the dose is easy to regulate. Just smoke a little until you feel better instead of take two of this or that and not be sure how you'll feel when it kicks in. My husband was told by his Doctor yesterday that he has Hepatitis C. I cannot see with as many people that are getting this disease, and nausea is a part of it, why they won't just give it up and let the people have and use a plant that man did not make. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by craven on March 07, 2001 at 21:07:18 PT Me too, extremely disgusted.... The part that struck me the most (and made the rest of the article unbearable to read) was... Giese said. “This is a bill to legalize marijuana in the state of New Hampshire. If this debate were about relieving suffering, why not just make heroin available on demand?’’Yeah.. because we all know how heroin is really THE superior medicine for alleviating nausea and vomiting, with NO side effects whatsoever... what a bunch of ignoramuses... I honestly cant believe some people actually still think this way. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Johnny Hempseed on March 07, 2001 at 20:51:34 PT this article disgusts me....... ugh, a lot of bad stuff in these NH articles. Pretty easy to see that it's a very intolerant state and Republican stronghold. Glad I don't live there........Actually, it's the DEA that has set MJ in schedule 1, not the FDA.Chief Giese makes the point "why not give out heroin"? Duh, morphine, diludin, many other nasty barbituates from the opium family are prescribed now, I've got some Percocet in my cabinet. Also the ever-popular myth of 2 options only: 100% legalization or 100% prohibition. I hope folks in NH can see this guy for the thug in a uniform that he is.Of course there are multiple studies that show MJ relieves nausea in about 2/3rds of patients FOR WHOM NO OTHER PRESCRIPTION ANTI-EMETIC HAS WORKED. Quack. Oooooo, beware the FDA, boy they came down hard on the 550 docs who have recommended MJ in Oregon. Or the ones who have done it in Maine. I guess this guy doesn't roll off his sister long enough to leave the state so he wouldn't know..... [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Demiwolf on March 07, 2001 at 19:29:43 PT: Jerks “There are a lot of drugs on the market that don’t have the side effects that marijuana has,’’ Dalco said.“It does relieve pain. But will a physician prescribe its use in a state when it’s barred by the federal government? I would be very intimidated by the FDA,” he said, referring to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.What a Jerk!! I would'nt want this man to be my doctor. The people know when you're puking you're guts out you can't keep a pill down. When it's all over and done I hope this man goes to jail with the other two million assholes that have kept our medicine from us [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: