New Hampshire’s new medical marijuana law allows seriously ill patients to possess up to two ounces of marijuana, obtained at one of four state-authorized dispensaries.
But before those dispensaries can open, the law calls for the creation of a committee that will work to implement the medical marijuana law.
Matt Simon is a lobbyist for the Marijuana Policy Project.
He says while he is pleased the law is moving forward, it won’t do anything to help patients in the short-term.
“It will probably be at least two years before any dispensaries are actually up and running and able to serve patients. So we’re very concerned about those delays, we want to urge the state to hurry the process along as much as possible.”
A provision that would have allowed qualifying patients to grow their own marijuana was eliminated from the bill, after Governor Hassan raised concerns about it.
She withdrew her objection to the legislation after part of the bill was removed, despite having voted for a bill with a home grown provision as a state senator.
Post-traumatic stress disorder was also removed as a qualifying condition during negotiation on the bill.
