New Hampshire committee endorses medical marijuana home-grow

Amid growing momentum to legalize recreational marijuana, New Hampshire lawmakers also are considering multiple measures to expand the state’s therapeutic cannabis law.

The House Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee on Tuesday endorsed a bill to allow medical marijuana patients to grow their own supply, but said the state should hold off on expanding the list of qualifying conditions. In a unanimous vote, the committee recommended further work on one bill that would make marijuana available to treat opioid addiction and another that would add insomnia, anxiety and Lyme disease to the list.

New Hampshire legalized medical marijuana in 2013, and as of late November, there were 7,120 patients enrolled in the program. The list of qualifying conditions has expanded over the years to nearly 20, but committee members said they were hesitant to add more. In the case of opioid misuse, some said they did not want to appear as if they were endorsing the use of one potentially addictive substance to treat another.

Rep. John Fothergill, a Colebrook Republican and a physician, said there isn’t enough hard evidence that marijuana is effective as an “exit drug” to help people overcome opioid addiction. [Read more at Valley News]