Advocates of legalizing medical use of marijuana for certain conditions say it’s the compassionate thing to do. But opponents say it would be a law enforcement nightmare and the wrong message to send to today’s youth.

On Wednesday, state representatives and senators will have the chance to override Gov. John Lynch’s veto of House Bill 648, which would legalize medical marijuana. A successful override vote would require a two-thirds margin in each body of the legislature.

State Representative for Cheshire County District 7 Frank Sterling of Jaffrey, a Republican, voted in favor of the legislation this summer and vows he’ll do it again on Oct. 28, despite the fact that most of his fellow Republican legislators have voted against the bill in the past.

On Tuesday, Sterling said his support of marijuana for medicinal purposes stems in large part from his mother’s death in 2007 after a bout with stomach cancer. He said she spent the last two weeks of her life unable to eat and in agonizing pain.

“I believe it’s an individual right to use marijuana, whether for medical purposes or not,” he said. “I think it’s less of a risky behavior than alcohol.”

Sterling isn’t alone. On June 24, the bill passed in the House with more than two-thirds support, 232 yeas and 108 nays, and in the Senate it passed 14-10, two votes shy of a two-thirds margin.

“I don’t know that it’s generational at all,” Sterling said of the support the bill had. “I think it’s got more to do with we in New Hampshire feel that as long as what you’re doing isn’t hurting anyone else, it’s your own business.”

The days of the knee-jerk reaction to marijuana use, such as those expressed in the 1936 film “Reefer Madness” are waning, he said. Now that President Barack Obama’s administration has announced it will not prosecute the medical use of marijuana in states that authorize it, Sterling said, some legislators who previously voted against it might be persuaded to the other side.

But complete decriminalization of marijuana is a long way off, he said.

“It’s been a long time that we’ve been conditioned to have a negative view of it.”
Sterling admits that there are dangers to smoking and inhaling smoke, but for him the principle of “Live Free or Die” overrides.

“Of course I’m a true Republican, but I think a large part of being a Republican is it’s a lot of individual responsibility,” he said.

Another State Representative for District 7, John Hunt of Rindge, said on Tuesday that he intends to vote against an override because he doesn’t see how the bill can be enforced.
“How do you regulate it? How do you enforce it?” Hunt, who is also a Republican, asked. “We can’t enforce it like you can enforce alcohol.”

He said marijuana is a hallucinogenic drug and can lead to erratic behavior that puts others at risk. He mentioned the risk of marijuana use while driving.

“You could be spacing out and cross the yellow line,” he said.

HB648, which if passed would take effect on Jan. 1, 2010, does not protect people from arrest or prosecution for being under the influence of marijuana while operating a motor vehicle, while working, unless the employer has given written permission, or while operating heavy machinery.

But Hunt said, “The intent of this legislation is to chip away at the marijuana law. ... This is not about anyone who is medically ill.”

No one who is seriously ill would be prosecuted for marijuana use, he said.
“The poor cancer patient, if they really want it, it’s not hard to find,” said Hunt.

In his heart of hearts, Hunt said, he endorses decriminalization of marijuana all together, but he doesn’t know how to do that without sending the wrong message to youth. And in the case of medical marijuana, he said, it would send a message to young people that “it’s good for you.”

“You might as well throw out the DARE program,” he said, referring to the Drug Abuse Resistance Education effort used in many schools.

Asked if he thinks the override will pass, Hunt said, “Historically, very few bills get override.”
In the 22 years, he’s served as state representative, Hunt said, he’s only seen it happen a couple of times.

“It was surprising the governor vetoed it in the first place,” Hunt said, “but he’s more of a moderate when it comes to law enforcement issues.”

In his veto message to the House, Lynch cited numerous problems with the legislation, including public safety issues raised by law enforcement officials.

“The bill does not clearly restrict the use of marijuana to those persons who are suffering severe pain, seizures or nausea as a result of a qualifying medical conditions,” Lynch wrote in the memo. “Caregivers in some instances are required to control the dosage of marijuana without any real means to accomplish this task. The bill leaves unclear the authority of a landlord to control the use of marijuana on rented property and in common areas of the property.”

On Tuesday, Jaffrey Police Chief Bill Oswalt said he supports Lynch’s decision to veto the bill.
“I’m convinced that much of the activity we deal with is related to drugs, either directly or indirectly,” he said. Marijuana, according to Oswalt, is a gateway drug to other more serious drugs.

“Marijuana use is prolific in society today, much more prevalent than alcohol use, especially among the younger generation,” he said.

Asked if he would use it if a doctor recommended marijuana to him, Oswalt said, “I would be seeking other opinions ... I would have to be convinced it was absolutely the only alternative to address a very serious medical issue.”

Although Temple-Greenville Police Chief James McTague said he would not use marijuana himself unless it came in pill form, he said he isn’t opposed to medicinal use of marijuana. But the legislation raises a lot of questions for law enforcement about how to control it, he said.

“There’s no quantitative value,” McTague said, referring to the euphoric high produced by tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. “How many joints can you smoke before you’re impaired? — no one can tell you.”

McTague said that, as with any drug, there’s a chance that a person could become addicted to marijuana. He said it’s the first rung on a ladder in what’s called “chasing the high.”
“I have never met a heroin user, a cocaine user who didn’t start out a marijuana user,” he said.

Legalizing marijuana for medicinal use would further muddy the waters, he said. Controlling alcohol use among minors and prescription drug abuse in general is difficult as it is, he said.
“We are a drug society, there’s not doubt about it. If we have an ache or pain or we want to improve our sex life, we take a pill.”

The battle against alcohol use was lost, McTague said, but at least alcohol is made in a factory in most cases and it’s quality controlled.

McTague said U.S. Attorney for New Hampshire John Kacavas’s recent statement that he won’t prosecute low-level usage of marijuana for pain or other medical reasons, as reported by the Associated Press, won’t have any affect on the Temple-Greenville Police Department’s enforcement of marijuana laws.

“For my department, either it’s legal or it’s not legal,” he said. “I could care less what the U.S. Attorney’s Office does.”