Allow medical marijuana gifts?

May 3, 2019

On Thursday, the New Hampshire Senate passed a bill that will allow qualified patients and caregivers to grow medical marijuana at home. The bill, HB 364, would also allow patients and caregivers to give marijuana to other qualified patients.

Nothing of value could be exchanged for the marijuana, and the gift could not be contingent on a related transaction. For example, someone could not offer a free gift of medical marijuana as a result of some other purchase.

The House passed HB 364 in March but must agree to some changes from the Senate before the bill goes to Gov. Sununu.

A gift to patients in need?

Those who want to allow medical marijuana gifts point to the extremely high cost of therapeutic cannabis. If New Hampshire is going to allow patients and caregivers to grow marijuana at home to make medical marijuana more affordable, it only makes sense to also allow patients and caregivers to donate marijuana to those in need.

HB 364 makes clear that nothing of value may change hands in exchange for the medical marijuana, so there would be no loophole for unregulated sales.

Undermining the medical marijuana system?

Opponents of medical marijuana gifts argue they will undermine the system of regulated medical marijuana. If home growers can distribute marijuana through gifts, it will be much more difficult for the state to identify illegal sales.

A gift economy will also make it more difficult for medical marijuana providers to stay in business, since they may lose customers.

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Comments

GariePaul

May 14, 2019

This question is already answered by our social-legal-community medicine histories.
Isn't this question already relevant to what happened in the past, to easily prescribed med.s; to OTC 'supplements' and "generic equivalents" to prescribed med.s of pain killers, of systemic blood and fluid
'control', 'quick energizers', and on and on. There occurred many OTC over-dosages; of counter-actions and negative interactions of multiple OTC supplements, of masked symptoms of more serious medical conditions; among many other unhealthy side effects.
The question of "other qualified patients' is a question of who ! is expected to be able to think clearly enough to make that determination? Children at all ages are already receiving dosages of marijuana in cookies, brownies, sweet drinks, sweet snacks, food staples (e.g., yogurts, butter, margerine, jellies, jams, and more). Children with hyperactivity, anxieties, tensions, etc. are already receiving 'unofficially' suggested low amounts of marijuana.
This is definitely a slippery slope; a 'genie out of the bottle'. No definitive studies have yet shown the effects of long term usage, ingestion, body fluid inclusions of the metabolites of marijuana. "It feels good" !
"I feel better" ! "My symptoms are relieved" ! As we go by body and mind and emotional feelings to argue the sustainable benefits of marijuana and its sub-chemistries, we're already marking the present and future generations as dependent upon psych-biotics. What's next? Psilocyben? Some states have already ushered in 'alleviating' drug. Marijuana is NOT an 'innocent' drug. I think the whole address of marijuana flooding our civilian market needs an immediate redress.

Allow medical marijuana gifts?

A gift to patients in need?

Undermining the medical marijuana system?

Comments

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